Dragonet
by Solus Lupa
Summary: Thanos has fallen. The world is at peace. The Avengers can rest. But a new organization is rising from the shadows, one far more dangerous and cunning than HYDRA, and they are thirsty for blood. However, when evil rises so will good, and unbeknownst to them, this group has accidentally made a new hero. One that breathes fire and soars over the city on leathery wings. Image not mine
1. Chapter 1: Dragon's Blood

**IN LOVING MEMORY OF STAN LEE, THE GENIUS BEHIND THE AVENGERS AND THE ENTIRE MARVEL UNIVERSE.**

 **A/N: Ok, I'm not new to the FanFiction principle, but I am new to the site. Feel free to review (but no flames, please) with any ideas, constructive criticism, or any insight on how I can make the story better. However, I have certain boundaries when it comes to the content of my stories. To see what they are, check out my Bio. Also, Autumn's face-claim is Hollyn. Now, on with the show!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, only my OC, the Dragon's Blood, and The Dragon's Eye.**

 _..._

 _And if you can't tell_

 _I'm a restless girl_

 _What are you hearing?_

...

The wind swished my dark brown hair as I ran defensively with the soccer ball. Three girls on my left started to close in and my vision zeroed on the goal ten feet away. I swiftly juked the players along with the goalie simultaneously and powerfully kicked the soccer ball into the net. The coach blew the whistle and my teammates briefly gathered to congratulate me.

"That was an impressive play," marveled one of the girls named Hailey. Several more agreed and I smiled. We resumed our usual positions and the whistle blew again, signaling the start of the new round. Hailey passed the ball to a girl on her right who passed it up to another and I ran as fast as my petite legs could go. The girl passed the ball to me without hesitation. I immediately took control and ran for a few yards before passing the ball back to Hailey, who scored. My teammates took turns highfiving her as the whistle blew and the opposite team dejectedly kicked the ball to center. If this was a real game, then we would be making the opposing team into some serious whipped cream.

Every summer, I joined a girl's soccer league. Many of the girls in my group I've known since I've started, which was five years ago.

After the soccer ball was in its rightful place, we all broke off and headed to the bleaches for a fifteen minute break. I slumped on a bench and rifled through my duffle bag till I found my water bottle and the latest book I was reading: The Sword of Summer. Ever since we started studying Norse mythology in school, I decided to read the Magnus Chase books to give myself a little extra information.

I sipped my water and started on chapter five. I glanced over at the other girls. They were talking in huddled groups and checking up on their social media statuses on their phones. I sighed and focused back on my book. It seemed like only two seconds, but a quarter of an hour later the coach blew the whistle and I slid my origami book marker into my spot in the chapter. We all flowed back onto the soccer field and got into our positions. When the game started, I ran to the side of the field in an open spot; a pass option.

As I waited, watching my team sprint across the field with the ball, something whooshed near my head. I waited, then shrugged it off, assuming it was nothing. I was wrong. Searing pain spread through my head, sharp and splintering. It felt like someone was jabbing a thousand knives into my brain and soaking my scalp in warm water at the same time. I felt my neurological nerves constrict and twist, as if my brain was trying to make itself into the shape of a horse or something. I screamed in agony, clutching my head and falling to my knees. The teams heard my cry and rushed over.

"Autumn, what's wrong?" The coach asked urgently. I bit my lip but couldn't speak.

"Talk to me!" The coach grabbed my shoulders. "Cora, call 911!" Cora ran for the bleachers while another girl poured some water into my mouth. I coughed and tried to swallow, but choked it up along with a sickening green and orange liquid. The girls stared in horror at the scene, and Cora came running back, reporting that 911 had been contacted. I continued to wail in pain, while everyone else tried to calm me before the ambulance arrived.

Suddenly, a noise crept across the field. It was a subtle ticking noise, but somehow I knew what it meant. "Run!" I managed to scream out. The girls didn't need to be told twice. They sprinted, but they only managed to make it a couple hundred yards before the field exploded.

...

Twenty minutes before, in North Korea, the middle-aged Korean general stood in front of his large window, gazing out at the training troops. A sick smile curled at his lips as one of his scientists burst into his office, announcing the successful launch of the general's experimental mutant serum.

"Excellent," the general sneered, turning to look a thing the scientist with cold, dark eyes.

The scientist continued, "The Dragon's Blood has also made contact with an American . . . A teenage girl."

"What?" the general hissed. "Show me!"

The scientist scurried over to the large computer screen mounted on the wall and typed something complicated on his tablet. Instantly, a live video feed came through of a dark haired girl playing in a soccer skirmish. The general turned to the scientist and raised an eyebrow.

The scientist shrugged helplessly. "The serum was programmed to infuse an individual with strong DNA, sir. It has soon to take affect."

"Good," the general said. He ran his hand through his military buzz cut. "And the volunteer?"

"He is ready and standing by, General Xang," the scientist replied.  
General Xang grinned wickedly. "Begin the process."

...

A terrible ringing noise burned through my head as I slowly gained consciousness. I hardly remembered what had happened. I had a vague memory of pain, then an explosion followed by screams, then finally a military jet and being carried inside by a man in a tight red, white, and blue outfit. Then I had blacked out.

I tried to open my eyes, but it felt like they were glued shut. I was too tired to push, so I laid there (wherever "there" was), fully awake but eyes still closed and breathing still slow and ragged. About half an hour later, I mustered enough strength to peel open my eyes and scan my surroundings. I was in a very large and sunlit living area, lying on one of four orange sofas. The walls were smooth white, with one made of steel and at least two more were fully made of glass, overlooking a vast green field, a long, gravel driveway, and a lush pine forest in the background. I concluded I was in a modern mansion, but why?

I began to sit up, but only then did I notice I wasn't wearing my soccer uniform. Instead I was dressed in a long pale blue hoodie with black ankle-length leggings and white Converse. My hair was still in its French braid, but I felt clean, as if I had showered. I was still creeped out by the fact that not only was I in a strange place, but also dressed in strange clothes. That meant that someone had to clothe and bathe me . . . I pushed that thought far, far away. I swung my toned legs over the side of the couch, but I froze like a deer in headlights when someone cleared their throat in front of me.

"You probably shouldn't sit up yet," said a teenage boy's voice. I slowly lifted my eyes to the voice's source, and was surprised. Standing against the far wall was a boy that looked to be about my age with short, unruly brown hair, brown eyes, and a faint sprinkling of freckles across his nose and cheeks. He wore a red hoodie, jeans, and black Converse. A cocky grin was formed on his lips. I narrowed my eyes at him. I instinctively did not trust him. Especially since he was a stranger and was most likely connected to my kidnapping. I ignored his suggestion and sat up, crossing my arms. The boy's annoying grin was still plastered on his face. I really wanted to slap him.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

He flinched the tiniest bit at my sharp tone. "Peter Parker," he answered.

I was a little taken aback by his honest answer. I knew that when someone kidnapped you or you met a stranger, they wouldn't tell you their full name right away. "Um, sure. . ." I stated, slowly standing up. Shrill pain flooded through my torso and I gasped and winced in pain, clutching my side and flopping back on the couch. Peter's grin disappeared and was replaced by a concerted look. He moved to sit down next to me.

"The explosion did some damage to your body. . . you broke a few ribs and suffered from a coma for the past five days—"

"FIVE DAYS?" I shrieked. Peter literally jumped up and held up his hands in surrender. I took a deep breath then exhaled through my mouth. "Sorry," I said.

Peter relaxed and continued, "Yeah. . . you were out for five days. Your ribs are almost fully healed and, well, obviously you're out of your coma. But, ummm, I think I might want to let Mr. Stark tell you exactly why you're here. . ."

"Ok." I held up a hand. "So, from the hints you may or may not have purposefully dropped—" Peter blushed "—I'm guessing I'm in the Avengers Compound."

Peter winced. "Surprise."

That is INSANE!" I yelled. I shot up ignoring the pain and stormed over to the door on the far side of the room. I heard Peter making a series of 'ahems' behind me but I blocked him out. Geez, that kid really got on my nerves.  
Before I could open the steel door, it was opened for me, revealing a man in his mid thirties with extremely gelled black hair, a black goatee, and a black silk suit. He smiled at me and I shivered. "Well," he said, "looks like our guest finally came back to the land of the living."

"Who are you?" I snarled.

The man chuckled. "Oh, please, there's no need for that. Though, I am slightly hurt that you don't recognize me." He walked out of the doorway and moved over to a small glass table littered with papers and futuristic tech. The man leaned against it and smirked at me. "Tony Stark, pleased to meet you." He stuck out his hand. I shook it, giving him a questioning look. He chuckled again.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

"Well, let's start with the explosion," said a new voice. I look over back to the doorway and saw a woman who was at most in her thirties with red hair and blue eyes, wearing a black leather jacket, a white V-neck, jeans, and boots.

"Nat." Tony nodded his head. "You might be better at explaining this."

The woman I now knew as Nat gave Tony a brief appreciative glance than walked over to us, stopping short a few feet in front of me. She tapped something on a rectangular computer screen looking piece of tech that was stuck on the middle of the glass table. Instantly, a holographic image of the Earth shimmered to life in between us. I raised an eyebrow, impressed. Nat smiled at me, then explained.

"A secret organization in North Korea called The Dragon's Eye has been lurking in the shadows lately. We decided to be idiots and ignore them, since they weren't doing anything suspicious yet. Then only a month ago we realized that they were working on something very out of the ordinary. The more we checked into it, the more impossible the results became." She paused for a moment as Peter walked up to join us, then continued, "The Dragon's Eye have been working on an experimental mutant serum called the Dragon's Blood. It gives the user the ability to manipulate the elements, develop elite agility and fighting skills, and ultimately, shape shift into a dragon."  
I snorted. For an underground organization, that seemed a bit silly. Nat glanced at me, then continued. "This is really not something to take lightly. Somehow, The Dragon's Eye's leader and retired general, Shang Lu Xang, learned how to combine bat DNA, lizard DNA, and some magical residue from Loki's staff to create a mutant serum. Lucky for you, this serum was just a test run, to make sure it worked. The actual serum is still in Xang's lab, being injected into a volunteer named Viggo Ramirez. The modified serum also controls the user's mind and gives Xang the advantage of controlling them."

The holographic Earth was replaced by a close-up picture of a needle filled with the same green-orange liquid that I had regurgitated on the soccer field five days earlier. A list of information popped up next to the needle, along with a portrait of a middle-aged Korean man with a military haircut and narrow black eyes. Xang. Nat then went on to explain the different attack methods Xang's men use, the high levels of tech used by his science labs, and most importantly, why he made the Dragon's Blood. Apparently Shang Lu made the serum to inject into a volunteer and use them as a weapon for his country. Since I was injected with the unmodified version, my brain wasn't poisoned by the mind controlling properties that would be used to Xang's advantage. Viggo wasn't so lucky. According to the Avengers' observations, the Sokovian-American has recently been injected with Xang's updated serum and was undergoing complicated training for his powers. Nat said that their mind-control methods were similar to HYDRA's when they had taken captive Bucky—a man with a metal arm, shoulder-length black hair and startling blue eyes that joined us near the middle of Nat's lecture—and used him as a worldwide assassin. The Dragon's Eye's mission was simple: use supernatural brainwashed mutants to help them achieve world domination. And the Avengers' mission was simple: watch The Dragon's Eye, gather as much information about the army as possible and figure out when and where their next attack will be. Unfortunately, that involved sneaking into their heavily guarded compound to see what The Dragon's Eye ultimately plans to do with their two dragon mutants.

I was staring wide-eyed through all of this, hoping this was just a nightmare and I got hit in the head with the soccer ball. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side. When Nat finished, eight more adults plus an older teenage girl joined us and stared at me as if to say, _This is her? Not exactly 'Avenger' material._

I shrunk back and gulped. "Hi. . ."

"Well." Mr. Stark stretched. "Autumn will be staying with us for an extensive amount of time. Wanda, you should probably show her her room." He looked at me without expression. "You'll be notified when dinner's ready."

I nodded and held back tears. I knew it would be a long time till I would see my family again.


	2. Chapter 2: My Luxury Prison

**A/N: I'm surprised that I already have one fav/follow on this story, and that makes me feel really good! I guess this story is actually going somewhere! To Guest Kyra Organa: Thanks so much for the input! That's exactly what I was going for, and I'm glad to see that I might've just achieved it! I'll try to put in more of those time breaks. Without further ado, I present Chapter 2! (Wow, that rhymes.)**

...

 _It's a new world_

 _It's a new start_

...

The teen brunette Wanda was fairly nice. I could tell from her accent she was Sokovian, and from her young frame that she was probably a freshman in college. Which really wasn't that much of an age difference since I was a junior in high school. She led me down long white, spruce and steel hallways, not really talking much but still being friendly. As we walked, I tried to make some small talk. "So. . . how long have you been an Avenger?"

Wanda hesitated. "Three years," she said finally.

"Cool," I said. We walked in silence. We passed more glass walls that gave us an outside view of the rest of the facility. Business people walked hurriedly two and fro, some wearing business suits while most others wore SWAT armor.

Wanda led me down a final hallway then stopped short in front of a steel door that looked like all the other doors in this huge place. I noted that there were several other doors in the spacious corridor. I guessed that this was the bedroom hallway. Wanda opened the door and I rethought thinking that I would hate this place.

The room was gray with high windows that gave it an almost futuristic feel. The floor was short black speckled carpet. A bed with a turquoise and white zigzag comforter was up against the far wall to the right of the door with a small widescreen TV mounted on the wall next to it. Up against the wall next to the door was a white desk with neat piles of art supplies, digital art and sketch pads, art books, and a laptop. Hanging from the ceiling were five Chinese lanterns. Against the wall opposite the door was a large, gray-violet L-shaped book shelf, stacked with hundreds upon hundreds of books. In the groove of the shelf was a dense blue beanbag. On the wall left of the book shelf was a closet.

As I walked in, taking in my surroundings, Wanda stopped by the closet and opened it. Inside were incredibly cool teen clothes that I was pretty sure I never owned. The color scheme ranged from dark, solid, to pastel colors. Which was good because I hated bright colors.

Wanda looked like she could read my thoughts, which, I remembered with a start, she could do along with telekinesis. "We knew you were coming," she explained, "so we decided to do some. . . remodeling. I chose the clothes." She smirked like she was happy with herself.

I was speechless. They went out of their way to make me a new home. I was actually beginning to get excited about staying here. I smiled. "Thanks," I whispered.

Wanda smiled back. "I'll let you get settled in. My room's next door if you need anything." And with that, she closed the door.

I strode through the room, noticing the small details I overlooked. There were canvas paintings of cherry trees with Chinese writing next to them on the walls. I'm glad the Avengers found out I was of Chinese heritage. I walked over to flop on my new bed when my foot bumped against something. I looked down and saw that there was a black backpack sitting next to my bed. _My_ black backpack. I dug through it and saw that my phone and Magnus Chase book were inside, along with my personal items. I put them all in their respective places.

When I plugged the charger into my phone on my desk I saw a note no doubt written in Mr. Stark's handwriting: _Lights out are at 10:30 pm, breakfast is whenever you wake up, lunch is at 12:30 pm, dinner is at 6 pm. If you sneak out we have security cameras watching you. . .  
_

I shuddered. Thankfully there were no cameras in my bedroom so the person manning them wouldn't be cursed with watching me undress each day.  
I picked up my Magnus Chase book, laid across my new bed, and continued on with chapter ten.

At least three hours later I had finished the book and an intercom device on the wall by the door buzzed and pretty soon a feminine voice came through.

"Will all Avengers members, official and honorary, please come down to the dining room for dinner."

I groaned and fell across my bed. I wasn't hungry and I didn't want to see their faces after what I've just been through. Especially Peter.

I was probably laying on my bed for half an hour when someone knocked on my door and a voice said, "Autumn?"

I sighed, stood up, and opened the door to Wanda, her green eyes reflecting concernment. "Why aren't you downstairs? Everyone's eating dinner."

"I'm not hungry," I replied shortly.

Wanda's eyes narrowed in annoyance, any trace of worry disappearing. "Tony sent me to come get you. Dinner started thirty minutes ago. And besides, you've been out for five days! Are you sure you're not the least bit hungry?"

I looked down at my feet. "Kinda. . . I just don't feel like being around people right now, you know? With what I've just found out and everything. . ."

Wanda visibly softened. "I understand."

A thought suddenly struck me and I looked up at Wanda with wide eyes. "What about my parents?"

The Sokovian brunette looked at me with sympathy. "Hm, Stark will be better at explaining this," she said more to herself.

I groaned. I knew what came next.

"So I guess I do have to go to dinner?" I asked. Wanda smirked smugly. "Yep." I groaned again and followed Wanda through the hallways and up the stairs. We emerged back into the room I had first woken up in, then walked to the right where a a modern, restaurant-sized kitchen came into view. In front of the kitchen was a long, rectangular table made of black wood. Seated around the table were what I assumed to be the Avengers, eating salad, garlic bread, and lasagna. My stomach rumbled and my mouth watered.

I was hoping we went unnoticed but apparently luck hated me today. Everyone looked up, faces expressionless. Mr. Stark was the first one to recover and stood up, smiling. "There she is."

A young African-American man with a small beard and a thick—Wakandan—accent smirked at me. "We were beginning to think you weren't going to join us tonight."

Wanda smiled at me. "Sit." She pointed with her chin at the table. My eyes flitted around looking for an empty seat. I spotted one, but when I did I refrained myself from groaning. Cautiously I slid into the chair next to Peter who flashed me a grin. I ignored him and turned to my plate of steaming food.

After a minute, the heroes resumed their dinner, eating and talking heartily. I had only eaten two bites of my lasagna when my question came back. I cleared my throat loud enough to get everyone's attention. Tony raised his eyebrows. "What about my parents?" I asked him.

Mr. Stark ducked his head while the rest of the Avengers stopped eating and looked at him expectantly.

"What. About. My. Parents," I repeated through my teeth.

Tony looked back up and met my eyes, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Your parents are safe," he said. "We contacted them, and told them what happened to you and where you are, and that you're also safe."

"That depends," muttered a more American looking African man with a hint of a Brooklyn accent. Mr. Stark shot him a look then continued. "Your parents weren't exactly happy when I told them that, but they'll survive. I told them that you will go home during the holidays so at least they get to see you."

Tears threatened to spring. I wouldn't see my parents for almost a year. And with me becoming an Avenger, I might die before then. The worst part was that I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. "Thank you for dinner," I said coldly, standing up and walking into the kitchen, placing my plate near the sink, and heading back to my bedroom.

...

"That went well," Sam said sarcastically after Autumn had stormed off on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

Tony massaged his temples. "She asked me a question and I answered it. I don't know why you're blaming me for her mild tantrum. Frankly, I don't even know why she got upset."

"You're going to be a terrible father," Steve chuckled to himself. Tony glared at him.

"And I suppose you could've done better?"

"C'mon, Tony. You just told the kid that she basically won't see her family again. And with the mission coming up, who knows if she'll even survive it. Just try to have some sympathy for once, geez," Steve retorted. Tony just covered his face with his hands and moaned.

"He's too proud to admit that you're right," Natasha whispered loudly to Steve. Steve smiled. Wanda stood up from her seat by Vision. "Should I go. . .?" she asked, pointing to the direction Autumn left.

"Just leave the kid be," Stephen Strange said, waving her off. "After all, she just learned she's a superhero. What do you expect?"

"Less drama and more respect," Tony said, looking up.

Strange pointed at Tony. "That was rhetorical."

Rhodey smiled and shook his head.

"Her ribs are almost fully healed," Bruce interjected, hoping to change the subject. "Another day or two, and she'll be up and running."

"Great, then she'll finally be able to train," Nat said eagerly. "And hopefully she'll discover that her powers aren't something to be upset about."

"Yeah, I mean, being able to shape shift into a dragon is pretty awesome," Peter added, not bothering to hid the admiration in his voice.

Tony smiled at him. "Ok, Peter and Nat are officially assigned to train Autumn full-time. Everyone else can help, of course."

"We might share a common ground," T'Challa said.

Stephen raised his hand. "Ditto."

"I should be up there with Peter and Nat," Scott interjected. "I have a daughter. I'll be able to communicate with Autumn without upsetting her." He flashed a pointed look at Tony.

Tony sighed and tapped his finger on the table, really not appreciating the way the team was treating him. "Fine. We'll run a test on her tomorrow to check if she's fully healed. If she is, you guys can go crazy. Just not too crazy. We want her to live to fully use her powers."

On that encouraging note, the Avengers left the table and went separate ways.

...

I stared at the white ceiling in my room. I hated this place so much. I had a strong urge to jump out the window and run back home. Of course, I'd die from the high fall and wouldn't get to run anywhere.

I unplugged my phone and sat cross-legged on my bed, scrolling through pictures of my recent family vacation to Ireland. I remembered so vividly the lush green fields and the small European towns, the mountains rising majestically in the background. Silent tears trickled down my cheeks as I reminisced the bittersweet memories.

I glanced at the clock. It was 7 pm. I sighed and plugged my earbuds in, laying on my bed and gradually falling asleep to Nightcore


	3. Chapter 3: A VERY Rude Awakening

...

 _I'm waking up_

 _I feel it in my bones_

 _Enough to make my systems blow_

...

I woke up feeling weird. Not like sick weird or emotional weird but weird weird. Like I was in someone else's body.

I opened my eyes and found myself staring down at a slender reptilian snout with pale blue scales with undertones of aquamarine, indigo and dark gold. That's strange. . .

I blinked and shook my head but the reptilian nose was still there. I decided that I was either dreaming or really, really, REALLY tired. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 9 pm. I only slept for two hours.

I attempted to sit up and stretch but when I did, my head clashed with the ceiling. "Ow!" I cried, my voice sounding unusually a tinge deeper.

What's happening?

I ducked my head and slid cautiously off the bed.

I, for some reason, automatically landed on all fours. I glanced down at my arms and legs and restrained myself from yelping. Instead of human limbs, they were scaly and lithe, like lizard legs except longer and more elevated.  
My hands and feet were now talons with white curved claws.

No. . .

I hurried to the mirror next to my desk and nearly tripped over my body fifty times. When I was finally staring at my reflection, I squeaked in horror.

My head was now graceful and somewhat triangular, with the snout I had first seen when I had woken up. My deep almond-shaped aquamarine eyes were situated on either side of my head with two indigo—almost black—horns curving slightly at the top, and three small flaps lining each side of my head. My head strangely resembled that of Toothless's from How To Train Your Dragon. My body was sleek and lithe, with huge, elegant wings folded to my body. They were leathery and bat-like, with indigo undersides. The wing frame started as pale blue like the rest of my body, then darkened to indigo, which eventually darkened to black.

Lastly, my tail was long and somewhat thin, and ended with off-white colored fur.

This can't be happening.

I was a dragon. And I had no idea had to turn back into a human. So I did the only sane thing possible at the moment. I called for help.

"Nat!"

It came out more like a mild bellow.

A few minutes later, Nat barreled into my bedroom, her hand on a gun strapped to her thigh defensively. She looked frantically around for me, but then realization clouded her face and her eyes traveled slowly up until they met mine. She didn't even scream. In fact, she looked like she expected something like this to happen, sooner or later.

"Autumn," Nat said calmly. How was she doing that? "You're a dragon."

"I know!" I said impatiently.

Nat held up her hands. "Ok, ok, relax. Your powers are starting to take hold. This might happen for a few days until you learn to control them. Just relax."

She placed a comforting hand at the base of my sleek, slightly curved neck. I was at most a little larger than the size of a full grown horse, so Nat couldn't completely reach my head.

"Just relax," she repeated. I did. Immediately, I felt my muscles loosen up. I hadn't realized how tense I was.

"Now," Nat instructed, "take a deep breath through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Just—try not to set anything on fire."

Puzzled by that last part, I did as I was told. When I exhaled, a tiny glow of flame was illuminated in my mouth. The fire didn't burn, but it was very warm, almost hot. It felt like a heating pad was set on Medium in my throat. I tried not to panic, so I swallowed down the embers (which felt like gulping down a very hot cup of water with salt) and closed my mouth, looking down at Nat for more directions.

"Ok," she began a little uneasily, "now close your eyes and just picture turning back into your real form. Every detail; melting your scales back into skin, growing arms and legs, shrinking your head back to its normal size."

I nodded and closed my eyes, following the instructions Nat described. Instantly I felt my body change: I was rising up to stand on two legs and I felt the familiar feel of clothes cover my flesh. When I felt complete, I opened my eyes and stood—a little under eye level—with Nat. She smiled at me and playfully punched my shoulder.

"There you go. Now you know how to shift in and out of your dragon form. Just concentrate on your human form before you sleep until you learn better control so that you won't unconsciously turn into that." She gestured around me, as if drawing a messy air outline of my dragon self.

I gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Nat. I'll remember that." I yawned and she grinned at me.

"Try and get some sleep. And this time I better not come in here and your room's on fire."


	4. Chapter 4: Just Close Your Eyes

**A/N: This chapter gives a little more insight on Autumn's feelings about becoming a superhero and how the Avengers see her. Autumn's celebrity sing-alike is Hollyn.**

...

 _Singing from heartache, from the pain_

 _Speaking my message from the veins_

...

The next morning I woke up as a human, thank goodness. The memory of last night was still fresh in my head; I was glad Nat had come and taught me how to change in and out of a dragon. Next time I wouldn't have to disturb her. Quite frankly, I was hoping there wouldn't be a next time.

I got out of bed, a little groggy from the previous incident. My legs wobbled. My head ached a bit. I realized I was still wearing my attire from yesterday, minus my shoes.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 9:30. I quickly took my long hair out of its braid and brushed it, then tied my shoes and headed up to the kitchen for breakfast.  
Thankfully it was empty. The Avengers must get up early. Or late. Either one was fine with me, as long as I was alone.

I went first to one of the dark wooden cabinets, finding a water glass and filling it up in the refrigerator's ice and water dispenser. I then looked inside the fridge for anything to eat and spied three huge cinnamon rolls on a plate covered with shrink wrap. I uncovered the plate and chose the roll with the most icing, setting it on a salad plate I had found in another cabinet. I took my breakfast to the counter/bar opposite the stove. The bar was basically a medium sized salt and pepper colored granite ledge which dropped down to the counter with a wooden bowl of fruit in the center.

I hoisted my petite body onto one of the black leather upholstered bar stools, and ate my bun, content with the beautiful silence. Of course an Avenger—a weird bald guy with dark maroon skin, green eyes, and a yellow gem stuck in the middle of his forehead—had to ruin it. "Ah, good morning, Autumn," he greeted me with a proper-sounding English accent.

"Um, hi," I said awkwardly. Man, these guys never give me a break.

Gem Head said nothing and proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee. "I am Vision," he said, pouring his drink into a I Heart NY mug. Under different circumstances, that might've been funny.

"Ok." I seriously wish these people would just leave me alone.

"Mr. Stark would like to meet with you." Vision sipped his coffee and faced me.

"Now?" I asked, a bit surprised and infuriated.

Vision chuckled. "No. At 10:30."

I frowned. "Then where is everyone?"

Vision gestured with his head to the short hallway that led out from the living room and to a flight of stairs. "Mostly everyone are in the conference room, listening to Miss Romanoff explain the interesting. . . change you underwent last night. Peter is still sleeping, as far as I am aware."

That jinxed us, of course.

Peter sauntered into the kitchen, dressed in flannel PJ pants and a gray T-shirt. Vision briefly turned intangible so Peter could walk through him since his eyes were half closed. The teen walked over to the fridge, pulled out a breakfast sandwich, and popped it in the microwave above the stove. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, as if suddenly noticing there were other people in the kitchen. He smiled and leaned against the countertop. He looked at me and he smiled wider, much to my annoyance.

"Morning, dragon girl," he said playfully.

I squelched a smile. "Hello."

I glanced at my hands, hoping that they didn't suddenly shift into talons, if that was why Peter greeted me as 'dragon girl'. Thankfully, they weren't talons so the guy probably just said it to make me smile. Which I found utterly irritating.

Vision cleared his throat, as if noticing the awkward tension between the two of us.

"Autumn, you should go get dressed. Mr. Stark is expecting to see you in the lab in—" he paused to check his watch "—thirty minutes."

I sighed and, as much I loathed seeing Tony again, especially in a lab, that meant I wouldn't have to listen to Peter crack jokes about my powers.

I slid down from the stool and walked back to my bedroom, feeling Vision and Peter's eyes on me as I strode away. It was very unnerving.

I walked into my room and opened the closet, trying to decide what to wear. There were so many choices, it made me almost dizzy. I finally settled on a pair of faded ripped jeans and an Imagine Dragons T-shirt. I kept on my white Converse, and checked myself in the mirror.

My espresso brown hair cascaded down to my lower back, with my long, choppy side bangs brushed roughly to the side. My large aquamarine eyes were framed with dark, thick lashes, outlining their almond shape.

Satisfied with my appearance, I walked down the hallways and up flights of glass and steel stairs. Once I topped my third stairwell, I gazed around.

I had entered an enormous room, all walls made of glass, and three of them were windows to others areas of the compound. The left wall was a window outside, overlooking the lush green field with the long gravel driveway and the thick forest in the distance. I breathed in its beauty. It's been a long time since I was outside and in fresh air.

I peeled my eyes from the window and back to the room. It appeared to be a work station/lab with metal tables piled with papers and futuristic tech. At least three big white robotic arms were stationed as well.

A clearing of a throat broke my thoughts and I turned to see Mr. Stark standing behind a table with a frameless computer, his formal attire shed so he was just wearing dark jeans and a T-shirt. He smiled at me.

"Ready for your appointment?" he asked.

I allowed slight confusion to appear on my face. "I don't have an appointment. Vision just said you wanted to see me."

"Yes, I do. That's why you have an appointment." Tony started to chuckle a little.

"Ok. . . then what's my appointment for?" I asked, starting to get annoyed.

"Come over here," Mr. Sark said, ignoring my question. He walked over to the middle of the room and pulled a frameless phone with a blue screen out of his pocket and tapped on it a few times. A holographic medical monitor appeared, glowing and pulsing with energy. My eyes widened and I joined Mr. Stark. He looked me over for a moment, then called over his shoulder, "Bruce!"

As footsteps approached, Tony glanced at me and said quickly, "Nice shirt, by the way."

I scoffed.

A man appeared in a doorway opposite from where we're standing. He looked to be maybe in his forties with black hair slightly graying at the edges, tan skin, and dark—almost black—brown eyes. He would've looked kind and warm if he wasn't wearing glasses and a worried expression.

"What is it, Tony?" the man who must've been Bruce asked, slightly exasperated.

"Our patient is here." Tony gestured to me with his head.

Bruce walked up to me and smiled kindly. "Hello. I'm Dr. Bruce Banner."

"Hey," I replied in the friendliest tone I could muster. Dr. Banner turned to Mr. Stark and narrowed his eyes. "You haven't told her yet, have you?"

Tony shrugged, while my voice was locked in my throat and if it was humanly possible for eyes to grow as big as dinner plates, then mine would have. What else did they not tell me? Was I some kid of alien?

"C'mon, Tony," Bruce continued. "You don't have to set up all this fancy tech just to check if three broken ribs are healed. Just press on her stomach and if you hear a crack, then they're still broken."

I resisted the urge to turn into a dragon and smite them. Bruce turned to me and laughed. "I'm just kidding. We totally need this stuff to run the tests."

Before I could protest, or smite them, Tony had scanned me with his weird but cool phone and instantly a report came up on the medical monitor. Dr. Banner examined it closely before turning to me with a smile. "Great. You're fully healed. You should be able to start training tomorrow with Natasha and Peter."

I choked. "What?"

"Yeah," Bruce said. "Nat and Peter volunteered to be your trainers."

"Of course they did," I muttered.

"Ok, kid, you're free." Tony waved me off. "That's all we needed you for."

"Good," I said icily, turning on my heel and striding back to my room where I could lock my door, doodle away, and listen to Nightcore.

As I approached my bedroom door, I could hear epic rock music coming from a half opened door two doors down from mine. I had a pretty good idea of who's it was, and when a flash of short brown hair and a familiar profile crossed the opening, my suspicions were affirmed. Peter. I wrinkled my nose at the poor choice of music and opened my door to be greeted by light gray walls and Chinese lanterns. I sighed as I plopped down at my desk with my pencil and sketch pad. I plugged my earbuds into my smartphone and cued the slow, slightly depressing music as I sketched away, letting my fingers draw what my heart felt.

...

Forty minutes later I observed my work.

I had drawn an anime girl sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean, gazing up at the full moon with wide, sad eyes, hugging her legs to her chest. A small tear dropped down her cheek and her raven hair swept forward with the breeze.

I paused Nightcore's version of Taylor Swift's "Safe and Sound" as I stood up and pinned the drawing to the wall above my desk. I sat back down and resumed the song. I closed my eyes and rocked side to side to the beat, humming along. Soon my voice grew until I was singing along to the beautiful music, absently forgetting that I had left my door open a crack accidentally.

And not noticing the unlikely audience I was attracting.

...

Peter stood in his room, playing the air guitar to his favorite rock song. His door was left open, since the Avengers were quite used to him rocking out and didn't mind anymore.

As the song ended, a different sort of music drifted into Peter's bedroom. It was slow and sentimental, and whoever was singing it seemed to really be in the mood. Peter groaned and slid off his bed. _How many times do I have to tell Wanda to turn down her depressing music?_ he thought.

Peter walked out of his room and was about to knock on Wanda's door when he realized that the music wasn't coming from the telekinetic's quarters. With a start he realized it was coming from _Autumn's_ room. He quietly crept over to her door and peeked down at her lower legs just to make sure she was decent. Her ankles showed white Converse and faded jeans. Whew, she was clothed. Peter slowly pushed her door open a bit farther and saw a sight that Autumn probably wanted to be private.

The reserved brunette was swaying side to side in her desk chair, eyes closed and earbuds in. And she was singing. Her voice was melodious, a little raspy, and beautiful, but with such feeling that it warmed Peter right down to his toes. He recognized the song as well, but he didn't know the words. A smile began to form on his face as he also began to sway with the tune.

"What's got you all smiley?" a strong voice inquired. Peter turned to see T'Challa walking into the hallway, phone in hand—probably texting his sister. Peter blushed.

"Oh, um, just. . .ah," he stuttered.

T'Challa chuckled and looked over Peter's shoulder into Autumn's room.

"My sister used to listen to that song to help her sleep," T'Challa remarked absentmindedly.

Pretty soon, a few more people gathered at the sound of Autumn's voice. Wanda, Nat, Scott, and Thor listened and watched as the young mutant began to slowly dance around in her room in a mesmerizing way.

As she turned, only then did Peter noticed the tear streaks on her cheeks and the subtle wheeze to her voice. She was crying.

 _She's absolutely miserable here,_ Peter realized with pang of sadness.

As Autumn finished the last note of the song, she opened her eyes only to be horror-stricken at the unwanted attention. She seriously looked like she would die of embarrassment. She pulled her earbuds out and a shy smile played at her lips. "Ummm. . . how much of that did you guys hear?"

Everyone applauded. Blush crept through Autumn's light olive face like a crimson flood.

"You have an amazing voice," Nat told her.

"Yes," Thor agreed, "one worthy of the courts of Asgard."

Autumn smiled with pride. "Thanks. I took lessons." Her face darkened by using the past tense. An orange glow flickered through her eyes and sparks momentarily danced across her fingers.

"Autumn. . ." Wanda warned.

The girl clenched her fists, extinguishing the small flames and staring back calmly but with chilly essence. Defiance? Anger? Peter didn't know how to name the different emotions that were evidently flashing through Autumn's face.

"I'm sorry. I-I didn't know that would happen. It's just—well—I'm still not used to being a mutant. I guess I'll never have a normal life again." Autumn burst out in a fresh set of tears, while Nat started corralling the others away from the sobbing brunette's room. Peter stood and helplessly watched her for a moment, before walking away and wishing he could somehow tell her it was ok.

But he knew it wasn't.

...

Unbeknownst to them, Tony was in the office near the bedroom hallway, going over their plan about infiltrating the North Korean lab. The glass door was left open, so Tony could hear the entire affair with Autumn and the others.

He had heard her sing her sad tune, in a voice that was so gorgeous and enthralling, it almost put him in a trance. All of her emotions poured into the words, so that you could almost feel her sadness and helplessness. It made Tony regret thrusting the poor teen into this whole "superhero business" but he knew he didn't have a choice.

Sooner or later Xang's men would've come for her, and brainwashed her just as they did to Viggo Ramirez. No one was there for him to explain this to, nor to go over his doubts and thoughts of throwing Autumn into the dangerous mission.

And no one was there when a silent tear dripped down his cheek.


	5. Chapter 5: Ice Cream Discussion

...

 _Got things to do, got things to say_

 _Yeah, I'm talking to you_

...

That was stupid.

Stupid to just sing freely and not check if my door was closed. And stupid to bust out crying in front of everyone.

I sighed shakily and wiped my nose, standing up and shutting my door. I glanced over at the book shelf with the beanbag in its alcove. Taking my earbuds out and placing both them and my phone on my desk I walked over to the shelf and selected a book at random, dropping into the beanbag chair before reading the title. The Giver by Lois Lowry. I shrugged and flipped open the book. It was a Newberry Winner, so it must be good and the summary was quite intriguing. I remembered seeing trailers for the movie, and hearing a few kids at school mention it, but I never really thought to read the book.

As I began chapter one, I felt myself floating into the alternate dimension of literary fiction. . .

...

Huh? What? What time was it?

I just realized I had fallen asleep halfway through chapter seven of the book, my long hair messy with some hanging in my face. I impatiently tucked it behind my ear and sat up, stretching and yawning.

I glanced absentmindedly at the wall clock, not the least bit shocked or upset to see that it was 1:00 pm, and that I had missed lunch. Oh well, I could probably just snatch something from the kitchen anyway.

I quickly smoothed down my hair and walked out of my room and up the stairs and through the hallways, till I reached the living room. I strode past that and over to the kitchen, which was seemingly empty. I stood still for a moment, pricking my ears for any sounds of someone coming.

Hearing nothing out of the ordinary, I slyly made my way over to the fridge and opened the freezer, finding exactly what I was looking for: Ice cream. I pulled the gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough out and set it on the counter, searching for a spoon and bowl.

Finding both, I scooped myself a very generous amount of ice cream then looked for toppings that I could add. I rummaged through some cabinets until I heard one open next to me. I looked over and saw Bucky holding a Family Size bag of KitKats, smiling with amusement. I held out my hands and made my winning puppy face. Bucky dropped the bag in my hands with a chuckle and watched silently as I poured some onto my ice cream.

"You know, you'll have the bad guys handing over their weapons if you make that face," he said after a while.

I mock bowed. "I'm glad my performance was a success."

I took my bowl over to the bar-counter thing and sat down, shoveling spoonfuls of ice cream into my mouth. Bucky sat down across from me and studied me for a moment before saying, "You ready for training tomorrow?"

I choked on my lunch and ice cream came out my nose. "Napkin, napkin," I panted, fanning my face. Bucky grabbed me a paper towel and I blew my nose, then wiped the ice cream from underneath it. I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head slowly.

"Geez, that's even worse than a brain freeze," I muttered.

I dropped my hand and thought for a minute before answering Bucky's question. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, Nat already showed me how to shapeshift so I don't know how hard it could be. I'm a black belt in karate and I've done parkour since I was seven. A lot of the stuff will probably be just repetition."

Bucky nodded. "Maybe. I know Peter won't work you too hard but Nat will definitely be a challenge. You'll break a sweat for sure."

I shrugged as I walked over and placed my bowl in the sink. "I'm used to it."

Bucky chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder. "You've got spunk, kiddo. I like that." He smiled then turned and walked out of the room.

I smiled a small smile to myself when Bucky said that. Not only was it—in my opinion anyway—a compliment, but it also ignited a small ember of hope within me.

Maybe life here wouldn't be a complete disaster after all.

And maybe, just maybe, it would get better.


	6. Chapter 6: Kind Words From a Witch

...

 _My powers turned on_

 _Starting right now I'll be strong_

...

The first day of training did _not_ start off as any other day.

First, Tony's AI, FRIDAY, woke me up at 7am, which is still the middle of the night in my book. Second, FRIDAY also informed me that Nat wanted me down at the gym in fifteen minutes, which included freshening up and eating breakfast. Lastly, well, this was probably the weirdest and most irritating part, Nat sent Peter of all people to come and get me.

I mentally died in a hole.

Groggily eating and brushing my teeth, I hoped that Nat would at least not cause me another broken rib. At most, I hoped that she wouldn't "accidentally" sever one of my limbs. That would be painful.

After tying my hair up in a messy ponytail, I swiftly threw on an olive green workout tank top and a pair of navy blue biking shorts. Deciding that I probably wouldn't have any use for shoes, I stayed barefoot.

I spent about another ten minutes or so reading the The Giver, when there came a knock on my door. Knowing who it already was, I put the book back on the bookshelf and opened the door to a very eager looking Peter. I stretched, unconsciously leaning back halfway into a back bend. Peter watched my little episode with surprise, then cleared his throat.

As if I had forgotten he was there.

Ha, I wish.

I stood back up to my full five foot four inches in height. "What?" I asked impatiently.

"Um, well, Nat sent me up to come get you, so. . ." Peter began to blush and rubbed the back of his neck.

I sighed softly to myself and made up my mind to make the best of things. I could start by being kinder to a kid who did nothing to me. Well, apart from helping to kidnap me and basically stalked me while I was out for almost a week.

"Ok, yeah, let's go," I said in a more friendly tone. My sleepiness didn't hold back from leaking into my voice, though.

Peter smirked. "Tired?"

I narrowed my eyes playfully at him. "No. Are you?"

Peter laughed. "Nope."

We proceeded to walk down the hallways, keeping silent for the time being. It wasn't as awkward as I expected. The quiet was almost comfortable.

We arrived at the gym door, which was surprisingly bulletproof glass, very much unlike the stainless steel doors found around the rest of the Compound.

Peter opened the door for me and I bowed my head. "Thank you, kind sir," I said in a mock damsel voice.

Peter laughed and walked in behind me. Now in the room, I could finally get ahold of the scope.

The gym was a large room with stark white walls, two of which which were made of the same bulletproof glass. Treadmills, weights, punching bags, practice dummies, and a mini shooting range were set up throughout the area, with the wall directly opposite the door displaying various kinds of weapons.

I grinned in spite of myself when I saw all the lethal toys that I had always been fascinated with. But what really caught my eye was a sleek katana. My parents did a good job with teaching me and before, my older twin siblings Amaya and Aaron, about our Asian history and taught us how to use the native weapons. Pretty awesome, right?

A clearing of a throat broke me from my thoughts and I turned to see Nat wearing a fitted white tank top and black leather pants standing at the far side of the room, in front of one of the windows. A metal bucket was standing next to her. For some reason that scared me.

Leaning against the wall next to Nat was a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties with cleanly shaven beard stubble and thick black hair. He had kind blue eyes and sported a white T-shirt and gray cargo pants. Only then did I realize that Peter was wearing something similar. I felt like I was at bootcamp or something.

The man came up to me with a warm smile and shook my hand. "Scott Lang, or better known as Ant-Man."

I tilted my head, thinking. I had never heard of a superhero with that name. My blank expression spoke for me.

Scott sighed. "Ok, maybe you haven't heard of me. Gosh, you look a lot like my daughter, Cassie."

I smiled. I considered it a compliment that I reminded him of his daughter. Nat clapped her hands. We all looked at her. "Save the family talk for later; we have a lot of training to get done." She waved me over and I stood a good six feet in front of her. Just as safety precautions.

She dusted off her hands. "Ok, Autumn, we're just gonna start with the basics. Today we will focus on learning to control your elemental abilities. Since you already know how to shapeshift in and out of a dragon, we'll save that for last."

I nodded, ready for whatever Nat was to throw at me. The Russian ginger sensed this and smirked. "Wow, someone's ready. Ok then. Will the water to rise out of the bucket."

I closed my eyes and focused—hard. I concentrated with all my strength till I started to feel lightheaded and opened my eyes. I gave Nat a questioning look, my features a mix of annoyance and tiredness. The redhead chuckled.

"Nice try, kiddo. But just focusing on empty space isn't the key. Imagine you're standing on a tree branch. A good distance away is another tree that you need to get to. In between the gap is a rope. The rope is just out of reach so you need to strain yourself to grab it. It takes all of your concentration to reach out for the rope and not fall, and at the same time you need to keep in mind how close you are to the edge of the branch. You just need to stay calm and focus. Slowly your arm stretches out and you're able to finally grasp the rope and you safely swing across the gap to the other branch. Now, this branch is your consciousness. The gap is, well, the opposite of consciousness. The rope is the element. It takes all of your attention and focus to control it. If you rush or if you do it wrong, you will pass out. But, if you are patient and calm, you will succeed. So, close your eyes and do everything I just told you."

I followed Nat's directions exactly and I immediately I felt a tug in both my brain and my gut. Then it vanished and was replaced with a numb, soft feeling like I had stuck my hand in front of a power fan for too long. I opened my eyes and I reminded myself to stay calm in order to not yelp in surprise.

A steady trail of water had risen out of the bucket and the tip was now levitating over my upturned palm. I looked at everyone else for their reactions. Nat was proud, Scott was pleasantly surprised, and Peter was shocked and completely taken aback.

"Whoa," I breathed, slowly releasing my grip on the water and allowing it to lower itself back into the bucket with a gentle splash.

Nat smiled a rare, genuine smile. "Well done, Autumn. And that's basically the method that you use to control the rest of the elements. Now, let's start brushing up on your fighting skills."

...

Five hours later, I was trudging up the stairs to my room after an exhausting and intense training session. I was covered in bruises and small gashes from the whole ordeal, while Nat had managed to not even break a sweat. Peter and Scott and sparred with me as well, but the Russian assassin was definitely a chore.

I arrived back at my bedroom and went straight into the attached bathroom to take a shower, only pausing a few seconds to answer FRIDAY about how my training session went.

I stripped down from my sweaty attire and willed the water to blast through the shower hose at full power. I washed myself down in the scalding hot liquid, spending an extra thirty minutes scrubbing my body three times over. Strangely enough, the steaming hot water didn't burn my skin like it should've. Instead it felt pleasantly warm; calming and soothing. I figured it had to do with my mutation.

After my shower, I threw on loose and comfortable clothing: An oversized blue-gray long sleeved shirt with a picture of two white angel wings on the front, short gray shorts, and socks which I scrunched down. My long hair hung loose and wet around my shoulders—I have never been a fan of using a hair dryer.

I put my phone on shuffle and brushed my hair to the song "Suitcase" by Sia. I've always liked that song. I think it's because it gives a message of wanting to be free, which is what I especially long for now. Pretty soon I found myself quietly singing along.

 _Pack it all away_

 _Pack it all in one suitcase_

 _I got all I need_

 _All I need to be free!_

As I finished brushing, another thought came to mind. I sat up a little on my bed and grew my tail out. It curved around and settled next to me. The fur on the end was soaked, so I walked into the bathroom and wrung it out over the drain. After I got all the extra water out, I sat back on my bed and hoisted the end of my tail up on my lap, where I proceeded to brush it.

 _Pack it all away_

 _Pack it all in one suitcase_

 _I got all I need_

 _All I need, I'm flying!_

Someone knocked on my door, and I paused the song. I waited for a moment and the knocking continued, followed by a familiar voice. "Autumn?"

"Come in," I answered, internally glad that it wasn't a different Avenger.

Wanda opened my door and poked her head in. "You ok? You didn't come down for lunch."

I sighed. "Yeah. That's the second time."

Worry lines appeared in Wanda's forehead. "What?"

"That's the second time I've missed lunch since I've been here," I answered. I had stopped brushing my tail so it now just sat limply on my lap.

Wanda walked over and plopped herself down next to me. She glanced at my tail. "May I?"

I smiled. "Sure."

Wanda stroked my fur softly, humming to herself. "You have a very beautiful tail," she said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Thank you."

"So, why have you been skipping lunch?" Wanda repeated.

I looked at her incredulously. "I'm fine. It's not like I've gone into depression or something. Well, maybe I have, kinda, but that doesn't mean I'll start cutting myself because of it. I've forgotten about lunch, that's all."

Wanda studied me. "Why are you depressed?" she asked gently.

I sighed. "I'm depressed because I'm stuck here." I pulled my knees up to my chest. "It was a normal day, and then suddenly I was thrust into this. I found out I was a mutant. I was told I could never go home. And now I'm being trained for a mission that I'll most likely die from." I was crying softly now, which wasn't normal. "Why did this have to happen to me? I don't understand."

Wanda looked down at me with sad eyes. It looked as if she was holding in tears. She hugged me. "I felt the same way you do when Pietro and I lost our parents. We were on the run for so long, and it just made the pain worse. But I had to believe that it happened for a reason, and that things would turn out ok. And they did, after many miserable years in that HYDRA lab and losing my brother, I found peace. I don't know why terrible things happen to us sometimes, but we have to believe that something good will come out of it and that sooner or later things will work out."

I wiped my nose on my sleeve and looked up at the telekinetic. My eyes were probably red and puffy, and I probably looked pitiful for a person who could change form into a fire-breathing dragon.

I smiled at my friend. "Thanks, Wanda. That really helped. You're like my older sister. She was always there to comfort me. Sorry, that sounded sappy and I bet I look pathetic from crying."

Wanda smiled back. "No, no, I understand. I'm glad I remind you of your sister. Are you ok now?"

I straightened up and sniffled. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks again."

Wanda hugged me one last time and slid off my bed. "You're welcome. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

Upon saying that, Wanda glanced down at my tail, then at my hairbrush, beginning to piece the two together. "Have fun, um, brushing your tail," she added a little awkwardly.

I nodded at her. "Thanks! I will."

The brunette nodded back a little slowly and slunk out of my room, closing the door behind her.


	7. Chapter 7: Spread Your Wings

**A/N: Don't forget to review! :)**

...

 _I used to hold my freak back_

 _Now I'm letting go_

...

After my talk with Wanda, I felt a lot better.

My moodiness was melting away, and I was becoming more open toward the other Avengers. They were very surprised at my change of attitude, and I can't blame them. Having a girl who had been closed-up and snappy for three days, then suddenly becoming more talkative gives you quite a shock. I was being more friendly to Tony and Peter, Tony reacting like he'd been run over by a truck and Peter smiling like he'd just won the lottery.

Over time, the fear of my powers disappeared as I began to master and embrace them as a part of me.

Which brought me to my first flight.

...

"Nat, are you sure about this?" I nervously asked the redhead assassin on a breezy June morning.

We were standing on top of what used to be Stark Tower. Surrounding it were other buildings dwarfed by its size. I glanced down at the ground which was fifteen stories below us.

"Yep, this is the perfect place. It's high up and half of the buildings are abandoned, so you won't kill anyone if you make a mistake," Natasha answered casually.

I stared at her. "What are we doing again, exactly?"

Nat sighed. "We're teaching you how to fly, Autumn. That's your training lesson for today. I don't understand; I told you about this yesterday and you were absolutely psyched."

"Yeah, well, you didn't tell me that I would be jumping off the roof of Stark Tower," I retorted, looking at the ground again.

Nat shrugged and walked a little ways away to give me some space. "Touché."

I gave her a deadpan look.

Nat rubbed her hands together. "Now, the first thing you do is change into your dragon form."

I did as I was told. My minty green scales sparkled in the sunlight and the fur on the end of my tail lightly rustled in the wind.

Nat smiled. "Good, good. Now, unfurl your wings and stretch them out. Maybe flap them a few times to get the blood flowing."

I extended my wings. Their indigo undersides glittered like a night sky full of stars. I flapped them up and down, faster and faster. Once or twice I was airborne for a moment.

Nat continued to smile. "Great job, Autumn. You're getting the hang of it. Now I want you to look down at the ground. See Peter waving down there?"

I peeked over the edge of the building. Sure enough, there was Peter, grinning and waving enthusiastically. I smiled with amusement.

That was dumb.

I should've been focusing on Nat instead, because before I could contemplate what was happening, I was shoved off the roof in one swift motion, hurdling towards the pavement. Wind tore at my face mercilessly like it was trying to rip it off, and my wings were folded around my body protectively. My tail swished wildly behind me.

Peter stopped waving at stared at my lifeless body with horror. The fast fall was making me nauseous and I was on the verge of passing out. I was too dizzy to scream.

"Autumn!" Nat yelled. "Open your wings! Straighten your tail!"

Using my last bit of consciousnesses, I obliged to Nat's orders and unfurled my wings. I took back control of my tail and used it for balance. I tilted my body upwards and my wings followed the movement.

I went from plummeting directly down to gliding slowly over the New York rooftops. People looked up and pointed, and little kids either cowered behind their mom's legs or grinned excitedly. I let out a gentle, triumphant roar and the suburbans cheered. Flying was amazing!

I flapped my wings and rose higher and higher, the buildings growing even smaller. I entered a small embankment of clouds. The wind was much calmer up here and I easily soared across the sky, my talons skimming through the fluffy white clouds. I roared again, this time louder and more passionate. I felt unstoppable, like I could fly anywhere with ease. My body was filled with power and I was almost wanting to go on the mission to give The Dragon's Eye a piece of me and see how they like it. Because I sure didn't like the piece they gave me.

I gazed fondly at my surroundings one more time before spiraling back down to Peter and Nat.

Peter was up on the roof when I landed with a heavy THUMP. He squealed like a kid on Christmas and ran over to me, checking out my wings. I nudged him with my snout and we began playing a mini game of tag.

Nat just watched the whole ordeal with her arms crossed and a fond smile. "Alright you two," she said, clapping her hands to get our attention.

We both walked over to her. She smiled at me. "Awesome job today, Autumn. You are really starting to get the hang of your powers. That's good. Now, let's go back to the Compound and get some lunch. After an experience like that, you must be hungry."

...

"Hey, Toothless, how was your first flight?" Tony inquired playfully as Nat, Peter, and I entered the kitchen.

I scoffed. "You know, Autumn would work too. Training went good. Thankfully I didn't fall to my death like I would've if I hadn't taken control." I shot a pointed look at Nat who simply smirked at me and scoured through the fridge.

Peter leaned against the countertop and popped open a Coke. "She was pretty amazing."

As much as I tried, I couldn't hide my blush. Tony looked between the two of us, grinned, and left the room.

Nat came over and handed us two slices of cold pizza. "I was too hungry," she explained simply. I rolled my eyes affectionately and took the food. That's just like Nat.

"So, you guys ready for the party tomorrow night?" she suddenly asked.

Peter and I spit out our food in unison.

"What?" I screeched.

Peter burned beet red.

Nat shrugged casually. "Yeah, Tony's throwing an engagement party in celebration of him and Pepper."

I pretended to puke into the sink, Peter watching me with an eyebrow raised. I turned back to Nat. "That's nice, but I would rather not go to a fancy party inspired by romance. You guys have fun; I'll be in my room drawing, reading, or whatever. . ."

I made to leave the kitchen but Nat blocked my path. A malicious grin was on her face. "Oh, no, you're coming too," she said, a glint in her eye. I gulped. That is never a good sign.

"But I don't have anything to wear," I said hopefully. Perhaps I could still get out of this.

Nat's grin stretched wider. "Don't worry, Wanda knew about this party, so she picked up a few varieties of formal dresses before you came to the Compound."

My face fell as I stared at Nat with terror. It will be only a matter of time before I'm forced to dress up, with the aid of Wanda, no doubt.

Kill me now.


	8. Chapter 8: Photograph

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

 **Or Happy Hanukkah!**

 **A/N: Uh huh, that's right, I updated! *Flosses* I'm so SO sorry for not updating as much! I thought I would have more time since I'm on Christmas break, but APPARENTLY NOT. We've been super busy. Christmas parties everywhere. Anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter! There's a Percy Jackson quote in there, review if you found it! :) (Review regardless, but still).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, Mt. Dew, or the song "Photograph". All rights to the respective owners. I only own Autumn.**

...

 _I see the lights_

 _See the party, the ballgowns_

...

Today was my death day. Yes, the day that I would die a slow, gruesome death because I sacrificed myself for something stupid. Today was Mr. Stark's engagement party.

"I am not wearing that," I told Wanda defiantly as she held up an outfit that she had pulled out from the dark, ominous corners of my gigantic closet. It was a two piece set, the skirt was a bright sea green and the sequined, sleeveless top was a creamy white.

Wanda huffed and stuffed the dress back into my wardrobe with much effort. "Autumn, this is the fourth dress we've tried; Tony's party starts in forty-five minutes. And we still have to do your hair and makeup."

My eyes brightened hopefully. "Only forty-five? Good, let's keep looking for dresses and not go at all."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Autumn, you are going. Natasha has made than painfully clear, and you do not want to get on her bad side. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

"I could die," I said bluntly, wide-eyed.

Wanda groaned. "You're overthinking this, really. Just try to have a good time. And besides, this is about Tony and Pepper."

I sighed deeply and flopped backwards onto my bed. "Fine."

Wanda smirked triumphantly and ducked back out of sight into my closet in search of another dress. She emerged a moment later with a different outfit, this one appealing slightly to me as I sat up to inspect it.

It was a navy blue, sleeveless off the shoulder dress. Simple enough, but also formal for the occasion. Perfect.

Wanda, seeing that my face had considerably softened and brightened, smirked and laid the dress next to me on the bed, pulling out a moment later a pair of silver sandal heels.

"Now," she said bossily, "time for hair and makeup."

I groaned.

Surprisingly, it only took Wanda thirty minutes to do stuff that should've taken an hour. I'll admit, I'll give her credit for that, and putting up with my stubborn attitude throughout the whole thing.

I stood in front of the mirror, surveying my appearance.

The dress went down to the middle of my thighs, but I assumed that had something to do with the heels, because they boosted me up three and a half inches from my original height.

My side bangs were pulled back by a silver, diamond-studded pin, which matched my heels.

For the makeup, Wanda had to literally threaten to sedate me if I didn't keep still. Mascara coated my already dark eyelashes and Wanda had applied glittering gold eyeshadow as well. She had severely gone over the top with the eyeliner, so that my eyes looked bigger and brighter than usual. Wanda had decided that since my face was already smooth and flawless—to an extent—I didn't need foundation, concealer, or any of that crap. However, she didn't seem to feel the same way about blush, as my cheeks were now glowing with a faint pinkish hue as a consequence. I somehow convinced her that I didn't need to, and wouldn't, wear lipstick, so that was that.

The only jewelry I wore was a pair of diamond stud earrings in each ear, because I have double ear piercings. Wanda made me take out my plain black ones, because she said they, quote, 'Wouldn't complete the look as well'.

Wanda herself was wearing a crimson strapless mermaid dress with a sweetheart neck and black lace heels. Her light brown hair was curled on the ends so it fell down her back in loose waves. She had amped up her makeup so that her lips were so red they were almost painful to look at, and her green eyes seemed to pop out at you from a mass of thick black mascara and eyeliner. She wore no jewelry except for a pair of black dangly earrings.

After we were done examining ourselves, Wanda turned to me and smiled. "Ready to go?"

I sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

For the two months I had been living here, and the extensive exploring I did daily to boot, I never knew that the Compound had a designated ballroom.

It had a high ceiling, smooth, off-white walls that glowed warm golden from the few individual lights and the large, modern chandelier, and a polished marble floor that seemed to reflect the golden light. Tony has specifically decorated it with white silk strips draping the chandelier, and mini vases of pale pink and white roses at the center of the two dozen, small circular tables that were set neatly up on the right half of the room, each of which was covered with a white silk tablecloth. A long and vast buffet and drink table was set up against the wall with the sliding double doors that opened up into the ballroom. Against the left wall was a small and narrow stage, a microphone at the front and a turntable in the corner of it.

My eyes skimmed over all of this. It was a very grand sight indeed.  
The only people that were in here were the rest of the Avengers, all of which were dressed very formally.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up," Nat said, striding up to us with a smirk on her face. She was wearing a black, long-sleeved cocktail dress with a plunging neckline and an open back, and black heels. Her orange bob was straightened so that it hugged her neck. It was strange seeing tough, hardcore Nat wearing a dress and heels.

I shot a nasty glance at both Wanda and Nat. "If it weren't for two certain people," I coughed loudly, "then I wouldn't have shown up at all," I said scathingly.

Nat continued to smirk at me, running her tongue over her teeth. "You have no idea how much this might benefit you in the future."

"Oh, really? Where, in my life, do you, O Great Seer, see anything in my future that was particularly bountiful because of this stupid party?"

"I'm hurt," said an all-too familiar voice from behind us.

We turned to see Tony standing, a champagne in his hand, looking as smug as ever in a black tuxedo and a red tie.

I glared at him. "This is your fault."

Tony snorted and took a sip of his drink. "What, the party, or your dislike of them?"

I rolled my eyes as the three adults began laughing, stalking away to one of the tables.

I walked straight into Peter.

"Autumn," he said, obviously surprised that Wanda and Nat had been able to drag me here successfully, unscathed. He did a double take and blinked rapidly.

He was wearing a plain suit and tie, as were the rest of the male members of the Avengers.

"Would it be rude if I turned into a dragon and set this room on fire?" I asked casually.

"Probably," Peter answered with a shrug.

I huffed and continued to walk; Peter jogged to catch up with me. "Oh, come on Autumn, it's not that bad."

I whirled around to face him, raising an eyebrow.

Peter sighed exasperatedly. "If you keep having a bad attitude, then you really are going to have a horrible time."

I shrugged. "Whatever, then. How long d'you think the party'll be?"

Peter shrugged this time. "Who cares. At least we're not expected to socialize with any of the adults. I asked Tony, don't worry," he added quickly when he saw my apprehensive face.

"What about dancing?" I asked slowly, my eyebrow rising further.

Peter blushed for some reason and started looking anywhere except at my face. "Um, no, I don't think we're expected to do that either."

I blew out a breath of relief and leaned against the table.

"Why, are you a terrible dancer?" Peter inquired.

It was my turn to blush. "No," I muttered. "I'm actually a very good dancer."

Peter looked confused. "Then why. . .?"

"I just don't like dancing, ok?" I snapped. Peter backed up, hands raised in a gesture of surrender. "Alright, geez, sorry."

I sighed and scratched the back of my neck. "The truth is, Peter. . . I'm a full-on wallflower when it comes to parties and stuff."

Peter snorted. "Really? I couldn't tell."

"And because of that, I'm very socially awkward at parties," I continued irritably. "At homecoming at my old school back home. . . I literally just stood in the corner the whole time with a glass of punch. I didn't talk, dance, nothing."

Peter raised an unbelieving eyebrow. "So you stood in a corner for four hours?"

"I'm serious!" I said, shoving his chest.

Peter chuckled. "If you wanted to touch me that badly, we could've just stepped outside."

I glared at him and stomped off, rolling my eyes. "Well you're no help," I muttered.

I just wish someone would understand already! They talk to me and treat me like I absolutely adore it here, or at least automatically believe that being shot in the head with some superpower serum and then being forced to stay with a bunch of millionaire enhanced strangers is normal!  
Hate to break it to you hippies, well, actually no, I've been wanting to scream this in your faces for the past month—IT'S NOT NORMAL! I don't like it here, I'm now suddenly a superhero, I have to live with the Avengers who I don't even know because of it, and now, to cap it all off, I am being forced to attend a stupid engagement party!  
I blew out a slow breath, letting myself cool down. I'm never this emotional, but then again, I've never been unexpectedly infused with a dragon mutation serum before.

I moved to a table near the back of the room and leaned against it, tucking a rogue strand of hair behind my ear. I looked around.

Peter had moved off to talk to Steve, who looked highly amused about something. Nat and Wanda were still talking with Tony. Everyone else were by the snacks and drinks, chatting too.

I rolled my eyes and sat down, pulling my phone out of the black snakeskin wallet purse thing that Wanda had given me. I had slipped my phone in without her noticing, because she would've given me a fifteen year lecture against it if she had.

I don't even know how long I was sitting there watching conspiracy theories on YouTube, whether it was ten minutes or an hour, but I eventually noticed the dramatic increase in vocal volume. I looked up from my phone screen to see at least four hundred more people in the ballroom. I mean, I know Tony's rich, but I didn't know he had any other friends besides the Avengers. Guess I was wrong. Unfortunately.

I glimpsed Wanda staring at me through narrowed eyes and swiftly stuffed my phone back in my handbag, standing up and trying to look as sophisticated as possible. I plastered on a fake smile as I stepped out from behind my hiding place, hoping that I wouldn't have to talk to more than at least five strangers.

...

Two hours. That's how long it's been, and I'm still alive and breathing.  
So far either Steve or Tony had introduced me to a few people as the 'new edition to the team'. I was tempted to scoff at this, but fought to keep my composure for the sake of reputation.

Pepper, Tony's fiancé, had arrived a little while ago. She looked stunning. She was wearing a white and silver floor-length sequined dress with a sweetheart neck and long sleeves. Her hair was done up in a braided bun. Everyone had stopped at stared at her when she entered, and she smiled warmly around the room. Tony had taken her aside a few minutes later, talking to her in a manner which implied that he was explaining something difficult. Pepper was smiling a bit impatiently while he was doing so.

Finally, the party got a little interesting. The DJ arrived and started to play soft background music. Isn't wasn't fun pop or face-paced rap, but it was music, and it calmed me down, my muscles relaxing and my smile becoming more genuine.

I hadn't talked to Peter since our little chat at the beginning of the party, but I saw him out of the corner of my eye talking, with the company of Tony, to some adults I didn't recognize.

I smirked. Glad I wasn't in his situation anymore.

Trying my best to look inconspicuous, I crept back over to the tables and leaned against a far one, breathing out a breath of relief.

"You are not a fan of social gatherings, eh?" inquired a strongly accented voice.

I spun around.

T'Challa, better known as the Black Panther, was sitting at the same table, his phone lying face down next to his hand.

I shook my head. T'Challa smiled and stood up, walking around to stand right in front of me. "Me neither. You know, when ever I'm at something like this, I try to appear as temporary as possible, never standing in one spot too long. Then not a lot of people have time to talk to you."

I nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks for the advice."

T'Challa looked around at the hundreds of people then back at me. "You needed it." He smiled again and patted me on the shoulder, taking his phone and disappearing into the crowd.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and everyone stopped talking. All heads turned to the stage, where Tony now stood, microphone in hand.

"I hope everyone's enjoying themselves?" he began with a smile. Everybody smiled and clapped, some yelling yes.

"Good. I want to thank all of you for coming here tonight in celebration of Pepper and I. It means a lot. Now, before the night is over, I thought we'd all have a little fun."

More clapping and appreciative whistles rang through the air.

Tony kept smiling. "From this point forward, there will be open karaoke to anyone who feels like sharing their voice."

More applause. More whistles. It was starting to make my ears hurt.  
The lights stayed down as Tony left the stage and people began whispering, debating if they should sing or not.

"Hey, Autumn," said Peter, suddenly by my side.

I spared him a glance. "Hey."

"Well, uh, you've made it this far, right?" Peter said playfully.

I sighed. "You have no idea."

Things gradually started getting more boring. Young adults singing pop slowly rolled into older people singing painfully slow 60's songs. When Thor got up on stage and started singing some kind of Asgardian opera song, I couldn't take anymore. Me, Peter, Sam, and Stephen retreated to a back room and played pool.

Nearly ten minutes later, Thor's drawling opera stopped and applause sounded that almost shattered my eardrums.

The four of us came back out to the main room to see people back talking or now just shuffling awkwardly in place, unsure of what to do. I spotted the rest of the Avengers laughing in a group. Tony and Pepper were slowly waltzing in an open space.

I looked around at all the fancy decorations, the DJ table, the buffet table, everything Tony did for Pepper, because he loved her. I felt a twinge of guilt. What Peter and Wanda said earlier began to sink in. This wasn't about me. This was about Tony and Pepper. I was being selfish and inconsiderate, complaining about everything. These people had the kindness to take me in and train me, teaching me to use my powers right, instead of leaving me out in the world as an outcast to figure them out myself. I should be thanking them.

A sudden idea popped into my head. It made me sweat and tremble, but I was determined to do it. Setting my jaw and putting my shoulders back, I marched to the stage. The guests stopped what they were doing to stare and watch. Even the Avengers wanted to see what I was going to do. All eyes on me, I whispered my desired song to the DJ, who nodded. I took a deep breath and shakily grabbed the microphone as the prelude to Ed Sheeran's "Photograph" issued through the speakers and around the room. I took another deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and sang from my heart.

 _Loving can hurt_

 _Loving can hurt sometimes_

 _But it's the only thing that I know_

 _When it gets hard_

 _You know it can get hard sometimes_

 _It is the only thing makes us feel alive_

 _We keep this love in a photograph_

 _We made these memories for ourselves_

 _Where our eyes are never closing_

 _Hearts are never broken_

 _And time's forever frozen still_

 _So you can keep me Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans_

 _Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet_

 _You won't ever be alone_

 _Wait for me to come home_

Everyone gaped and exchanged awed looks. Some mouthed 'wow'. The Avengers were looking up at me with proud smiles. They, of course, had heard me sing before, so it wasn't a big surprise to them. Peter was grinning, but was blushing at the same time, for some reason.

As I continued to sing, I noticed Tony with his arm around Pepper, standing in their small open space in the center of the crowd. Pepper was wiping away tears with her fingers.

 _When I'm away_

 _I will remember how you kissed me_

 _Under the lamppost back on Sixth street_

 _Hearing you whisper through the phone_

 _"Wait for me to come home"_

The applause was monstrous. People cheered and whistled, the noise echoing very loudly around the room.

I finished the song and did an awkward little curtesy, before hastily attaching the microphone back on its stand and hurriedly trotted down the steps of the stage.

My worst fear became a reality.

A lot of the guests started to swarm me, and being pretty wealthy people themselves (how else were they friends with Tony?) began bombarding me with questions about my voice, such as asking if I had an agent, if I was a new, beginning artist, how long I had been singing, that sort of thing. Others simply showered me with compliments.

For other people it might've been creepy, but for me it was fortunate when a random hand reached through the mob and pulled me out by the shoulder.

"So you're Autumn, right?" Pepper asked with a kind smile.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Thank you so much for singing tonight. Your voice is so beautiful and professional!"

I cracked a small, proud smile.

"How long have you been dining, exactly?" Pepper asked.

I answered the same question for the tenth time, "Since I was six. My uncle owns a voice and acting studio near my house back home in Washington."

Pepper was silent for a second. "'Photograph' is one of my favorite songs," she said at last. "It was the perfect song choice, and you executed it so extraordinarily. Thank you so much, Autumn."

I smiled shyly and glanced at my feet. "No problem. It-it was fun."  
Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because you seemed a little anxious up there."

My face burned scarlet. "I just have a little bit of stage fright," I replied in a clipper tone than I meant.

Pepper's smiled faltered subtly. "I'm sorry. It was nice meeting you, Autumn."

I forced back my smile. "You too."

I turned and walked back over to my table, sitting myself down again and covering my face with my hands.

"Au-Autumn?" said an all-too familiar voice.

I slowly lifted my head to see Peter standing behind me.

"Mmph," I responded, letting my head drop back into my hands.

Peter cleared his throat and sat down in the chair next to me. "You-you did really great, singing up there."

"Thanks," I replied in a muffled voice.

"Um, are you ok?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Guess."

"People."

"Close."

"Lots of people."

"Closer."

"Having to talk to lots of people?"

"Closer."

"Having to _perform_ in front of lots of people?"

"Correct."

Peter stared at me. "But you just sang in front of everyone—"  
"That doesn't mean I actually enjoyed doing it," I cut him off with a look.

Peter stilled stared at me.

The lights dimmed all the way down, so that the only light came from the candles set up in the center of the tables.

"Oh, they're doing _this_ now?" I said with mild disgust, gesture with my hand towards everyone who were now waltzing and slow dancing across the dance floor.

"Might as well just sit and watch," Peter sighed. For some reason he sounded disappointed.

The two of us just sat and on-looked the dancers. A while later Peter had gone over to the buffet table and brought back two Mt. Dews and some food.

When people were still dancing roughly around an hour later, Nat came over to us.

"Dance," she hissed. Peter and I did double takes.

"Dance," Nat repeated. "You two look stupid just sitting there!" And with that, she disappeared back into the crowd.

"Um, Autumn. . .?" Peter said, looking at me.

"What do I care?" I was muttering to myself. "I could care less about looking stupid, _you_ look stupid. . ."

"Let's dance," Peter said abruptly.

I was snapped out of my thoughts and started choking. "Wait, _what_?!"

"C'mon," Peter said, standing up.

"I refuse!" I declared rebelliously.

"Autumn, c'mon, we don't want to make Nat angry."

"Well, I'm a dragon! What can she do against me?"  
"C'mon," Peter repeated, this time more gently and with a small playful smile. He held his hand out to me.

I looked from his hand to his face, then back to his hand. I sighed. "It could be worse," I begrudgingly admitted to myself. Hesitantly I took Peter's hand and let him pull me to my feet. He led me onto the dance floor and started blushing like crazy. "Um, do you want to waltz or slow dance?"

"Whichever's easiest," I answered.

"Slow dance it is, then," Peter muttered, his blush growing redder.

He gingerly placed his hands on my hips. A shiver went through my body and I cautiously rapped my arms around his neck.

We started swaying back and forth, very awkwardly at first, not talking and avoiding eye contact. It was the most uncomfortable yet strangely satisfying thing I had ever done.

As the minutes ticked by, we began to move a little more relaxed, and we spared a few glances at each other's faces.

It has been thirty minutes. Peter and I have somehow made our way into the center of the group. We started to spin a little bit, and I could feel a tiny smile trying to creep through my face.

I was just beginning to let my body and mind relax when something made me go rigid again.

Peter was closing his eyes and was leaning in.

Panic exploded like fireworks in my brain. What is happening?! He can't be trying to. . . No. Wait. OhmygoshyesheisohcrapohcrapIamnotreadyforthishelpmepleasesomebody.

We were nearly nose to nose now. My eyes were flitting desperately around the room, trying to find a way out.

"Um, Peter," I said in a nervous tone.

Peter's eyes snapped open. Gradually the blush started spreading throughout his face again, redder than ever. He drew back.

I internally breathed a very deep sigh of relief.

"S-sorry," Peter said, his voice cracking epically.

"Um, yeah, erm. . . do you wanna. . . take a break or something?" I asked. I mentally cursed myself for sounding so awkward.

Peter nodded vigorously, and we rushed back to our table, avoiding eye contact the rest of the night.


	9. Chapter 9: Warpath

**A/N: Ok, so this is a new kind of developement. Also, this might be one of the last updates I make for the next couple weeks since school starts for me again on Tuesday. Hope y'all enjoy. :)**

...

 _A beating heart of stone_

 _You gotta be so cold_

 _To make it in this world_

...

"Again!" General Xang ordered.

The trainer nodded, nodding again at Viggo, who was sweating profusely but set his jaw. Either with frustration or determination, Xang didn't know. And he really didn't care.

The trainer paused to clean of his long sword with a cloth, and poised it in an attack position, brandishing it threateningly at the dragon-shifter.

Viggo's human form melted into his dragon one, and he eyed the trainer, his body coiled like a panther's, ready to pounce on command.

"Go!" the general commanded.

The trainer whipped his sword, thrusting it in an arch at Viggo. The obsidian-black dragon parried it with the sharp, silver metallic spikes on his tail, making sparks fly from the two blades.

The opponents continued with their fight, the sound of colliding metal echoing throughout the training room.

After a while the trainer pulled out a gun at started shooting at the dark-colored dragon.

Viggo ducked, shielding the side of his body with one of his wings, the bullets ricocheting off the diamond-tough scales. During a split-second pause, he exposed his body enough to extend his head and breathe fire at his attacker, melting the bullets so that they dropped to the floor as blobs of metallic liquid.

The trainer was quick and experienced, rolling behind part of the wall and continuing to shoot at the dragon mutant from there.

Viggo leapt up on top of a set of heavy metal training bars. He roared fiercely, the tips of his large, extended wings trembling with the vibration.

The trainer stepped out from behind his refuge place, pulling out from a pouch around his chest a handful of deadly, razor-sharp throwing stars.

He hurled a pair at Viggo, one catching the dragon near the back of his neck. He roared again in fury. A huge chunk of stone from the wall tore itself out at Viggo's mental commanded, colliding with the trainer and knocking him down on his back, the force removing the breath out of his lungs and leaving him gasping.

"Enough!" General Xang barked, spreading his arms.

Viggo slunk down off of the bars, ripping the throwing star carelessly out of his neck and transforming back into a human.

A robotic arm extended from the ceiling, removing the block of stone from on top of the training and lifting him back on his feet. The man in question leaned heavily against the wall, couching up dust and blood, a couple doctors rushing in and escorting him to the medical ward.

General Xang smirked triumphantly to himself, completely ignoring the trainer's absence and walking over to Viggo.

The young Sokovian looked like he had been dumped in a pool, water dripping from his dark hair and droplets shimmering on his toned arms. He was panting, hands on his knees. He was dressed simply in a black tank top, black cargo pants, and black combat boots. In fact, all members of The Dragon's Eye were dressed exactly the same way, with the exception of a black army jacket for some. Even the general himself was dressed in an all-black suit.

"Well done, Viggo," Xang said smoothly, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder.

Viggo just nodded mutely, staring ahead at a nonexistent object.

Xang continued to smirk. Thanks to the actual Dragon's Blood mutation serum, Viggo wouldn't say or do anything outside of what the general allowed. Xang credited the science he used for that to HYDRA. He was very fond of the methods they used to create and control the Winter Soldier, which was quite remarkable until he found a way to break free. That was the one flaw to their effective chemical, a flaw that Xang saw was so simple, so foolish, so _fixable_. So he mended HYDRA's brainwashing serum, strengthening it with his own knowledge, until the victim, _his_ Winter Soldier was right under his thumb, ready to do as he commanded, without the option of verbally or mentally questioning him. And his Winter Soldier would never break free.

General Xang clapped Viggo on the shoulder a few times, but the only indication that Viggo had noticed was a blink.

"Report to your quarters for the evening," Xang told him. "Will will resume your training again tomorrow morning."

Viggo nodded again, muttering a 'yes, sir'.

Xang smiled mirthlessly, leaning in close to Viggo's ear.

"Bul-i ol geos-ida," he whispered in Korean.

"Bul-i ol geos-ida," Viggo echoed The Dragon's Eye motto in a strong Sokovian accent.

The dragon-shifter straightened up and turned, marching out of the training room and to his sleeping barracks.

General Xang left the training room himself, but he was not going to his sleeping quarters. Instead, he headed in the direction of the command center.

"Well?" he demanded of one of the agents when he arrived. She was the newest recruit of the organization, barely over nineteen, with large glasses that distracted and irritated Xang at the same time. He didn't know why, but he didn't bother trying to find out. It was a waste of time.

The young woman fumbled with her keyboard for a second before replying in a shaky voice, "T-the test serum has fully taken hold on the American. According to our s-satellite cameras, she already knows how to transform and manipulate the elements—to an extent. I doubt she's experienced yet."

General Xang nodded thoughtfully. "Any estimated time for the Avengers' arrival?"

The girl shook her head. "According to the cameras, they haven't begun preparing yet."

Xang chuckled scornfully. "Foolish Americans. How is our weapon doing?"

The agent typed a few things on her keyboard before answering, "He is steadily progressing. Heart rate is normal. Neurological cells are still complying and are in working order."

"Good," Xang said. He paused. "And the experiment?"

The girl drew a shaky breath. "The Infinity Stone residue is combining. . . well. The whole thing is nearing completion." She inhaled another trembling breath, sweat beginning to bead down her neck. "But sir, this concoction is much different than the other ones. It might not work like it's supposed to, it might implode the whole building into oblivion; I don't think we should do this—"

General Xang lifted his gun from his holster, and without a second thought, shot the young woman through the head, her obnoxious glasses cracked and bloodstained.

"Anyone else like to question my decisions?" Xang said into the shocked and horrified silence of the room. No one spoke up, no one even dared to breathe, and General Xang shoved the gun back inside its holster, and left the command center with a stoney, unreadable expression.

The agents exchanged terrified looks, understanding dawning in their faces. The tiny, silent nagging fear that had encompassed them all was real.

General Xang would stop at nothing until he obtained what he has wanted for so many years: America's downfall, no matter the risks. And if he didn't hesitate in shooting a nineteen year old girl for questioning his motives, it only was common knowledge that he would not pause for a millisecond to kill a sixteen year old girl with dragon powers who was coming to oppose him, bringing none other than the Avengers to help.


	10. Chapter 10: Battle Prepping

**A/N: WOW. HOLY COW. I haven't updated this story in nearly six months and I am so, SO sorry about that. What with finals, trips, and a major case of writer's block, it was tough. But I did it! :) Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, the next one should be out soon if I get around to it, and be sure to keep an eye out for the next chapters of Harry Potter and The Girl Who Lived and Daughter of the Wild! They should be up before long! Don't forget to fave, follow, and review! Happy reading!**

 **P.S. This is obviously an AU of post-Endgame, so that's all I'm going to say about it.**

...

 _You better get ready for war_

 _Cause it's_

 _It's here tonight_

...

You would've thought the Avengers Compound was in the aftershock of an apocalypse.

Tony and Pepper's engagement party, which had occurred two nights ago, seemed to've been the last hurrah before everyone turned serious and grave. At least two Avengers were in the training room at a time, practicing their fighting techniques and/or supernatural powers.

Peter had gone to stay with his Aunt May the day after the party, which saved both of us the awkwardness and embarrassment of the. . . incident that had happened at said party.

I had slept in, which was nice, since I had stayed up till nearly four in the morning helping the others clean up after the momentous event. By the time I had dragged myself up the many flights of stairs, peeled off my formal attire and wormed into my pajamas, I crashed onto my bed and fell asleep immediately.

I expected to wake up this morning to another nearly-empty kitchen and a slow routine, but instead was surprised by Nat leaning against the kitchen's glossy granite counter dressed in workout clothes. Uh oh. . . that was never a good sign.

"You're up," she quipped, almost as a note to herself. She gestured to the fridge. "Eat a light breakfast then hurry up and change. We've got a lot of training to do today."

I groaned and lurched groggily over to the fridge, snatching an apple and taking a large bite. A crisp _crunch_ echoed throughout the room. Nat smirked ever so slightly.

Finishing up my unusually healthy breakfast, I went back to my room and changed into an electric blue sports bra and black workout leggings, tying my hair up and opening my door only to find Peter walking past dressed in his own training clothes. I instantly regretted choosing the sports bra.

"Hey, Autumn—" Peter started weakly, then promptly blushed and averted his eyes to his sneakers.

I couldn't help blushing a bit either, and managed a small wave before speed-walking to the training room, Peter right behind me, making the awkward tension grow.

To make matters worse, we were also stuck in the elevator together.

"Um, Autumn," Peter said, breaking the uncomfortable silence save for the stereotypical elevator music.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning to face him.

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I'd just like to apologize for what happened at Mr. Stark's party a couple nights ago. I was being impulsive and wasn't thinking clearly."

I blinked, a bit taken aback. If anyone was at fault in this situation, it was Nat, for making us dance together in the first place.

"It's ok," I said lightly with a shrug.

"I. . . hope we can still be friends?" Peter said tentatively.

I smiled. "Sure."

We shook hands just as the elevator doors slid open.

We entered into the training room.  
Nat was in there with Scott, who was punching a punching bag near the corner. Another man was there, one I vaguely recognized but didn't know on a first-name basis. It might've been because he wasn't around much, constantly coming and going from the Compound.

He had black hair that was slicked back and a goatee, with a thin face, high cheekbones, and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a sort of necklace, with a golden three-dimensional eye pendant that was emitting a soft green glow from the center.

Nat clapped her hands, snapping me back to my surroundings.

"Autumn, Peter. Right on time." The ginger gestured for us to come over to her.

"What are we working on today?" I asked her, stretching my arms.

Nat's lips curved upwards in a small smile, perhaps at my enthusiasm. "Actually, Autumn, I won't be the one training you today. You're going to have a private tutor."

The man with the eye pendant necklace stepped forward and held out his hand. "I don't think we've officially met. I'm Doctor Stephen Strange."

I shook his hand. "Autumn Tahhvang. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Stephen responded. He eyed me warily as if trying to analyze my powers. He pointed with his chin to the other end of the room. "Let's go over there. We'll have more room to practice and a wider space in case. . . anything goes wrong."

I frowned to myself, but followed Stephen over to the open area.

"Ok, I'll be teaching you how to perfect your elemental manipulation abilities," Stephen said, rolling up the sleeves on his long dark blue shirt—or tunic? I dunno. Superheroes can be strange (ha ha, get it? Bad pun, I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist!)

"I know how to bend the elements already," I protested.

Stephen sighed. "You're not paying attention, kid. I said _perfect_. As in teaching you how to control them in split second situations and use them as weapons."

Now I was interested. "Why didn't you say so?" I rubbed my hands together eagerly. "Let's get started!"

Stephen glanced over at Nat and Scott with an amused look as of to say _This is the kid who's supposed to help us fight a highly elite North Korean death organization?_

Nat and Scott simply smiled and shrugged back at him. _Yep_.

Stephen sighed again. "Ok, let's start first with fire bending. From the information about the Dragon's Blood serum, fire is a special exception compared to the other elements. You can breathe it, in or out of your dragon form, you're immune to it, and, in addition to controlling it, can create it." He stared me down for a second before saying in a grave voice, "That's a lot of destructive power for a sixteen year old to have."

I smirked. "With great power comes great responsibility?"

"Hey, don't you dare start on that!" Peter called from the other end of the training facility. His voice held an uncharacteristic edge to it.

Stephen glanced back at Peter before giving me one of those stereotypical-adult 'really?' looks. "Let's try to avoid the jokes while we're training today. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Ok, good. Now, Nat told me about that night when you woke up in your dragon form. She said you almost burnt your room down," Stephen said. "Do you remember how you summoned your fire?"

"I freaked out."

"Yeah, not going to work." Stephen looked up at the ceiling, whether in thought or prayer: _Save me from this hyper teenager!_

"Ok," he said finally, "just concentrate on calling on your fire; maybe searching for the feeling you had when you first summoned it."

As I closed my eyes to focus, I was vaguely aware of Scott readying a fire extinguisher out of my peripheral vision.

I pushed all other thoughts from my mind; the only picture remaining a blazing inferno.  
I dug deep down, reaching for my supernatural abilities. I imagined myself as a dragon, blowtorching a battlefield of enemies.

The same warm heating pad sensation built in the bottom of my throat, slowly crawling its way to the surface. I parted my lips and exhaled lightly, a small plume of orange-hot fire exiting my mouth. The feeling was balmy and comfortable on my tongue, like the sensation you get when eating warm soup on a cold day. It didn't hurt at all. On the contrary, it felt perfectly natural.

The fire died out, and a smoky, salty taste was left in my mouth. I swallowed it down.  
Scott immediately rushed over to the charred spot on the wall where my fire had hit, dousing it in flame retardant. Nat facepalmed.

Stephen simply ignored Scott and gave me an appraising look, a surprised smile gracing over his mouth. "Very good," he told me. "Very mellow and controlled. That's good when training, but not when we're going to war."

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, well, I haven't exactly breathed fire before. It's not like they taught classes on it in elementary school."

Stephen once again glanced at Nat, who gave him a small 'I told you so' smile.

"Alright," Stephen said eventually, "now let's practice on using your other elemental powers."

Like he had promised, Stephen instructed me on my fire bending first. It was pretty easy, since I could create it (Stephen said something about fire being a dragon's natural element was the reason why). I used Nat's rope-and-tree analogy to get myself in the mindset.

Air was a bit harder. It was like trying to grab something invisible and bend it to your will, which was exactly what I was supposed to do. I had to focus a lot longer, to the point where everyone in the training room had to be absolutely silent. Air bending was a lot like telekinesis, since it was everywhere and I could use it to levitate stuff.

Earth was almost as hard as air. We tested out my earth powers by setting a potted bamboo plant in front of me to see if I could manipulate it. After much concentration, I managed to make some swirly designs, which wouldn't help much in combat.

Rocks and dirt were easier, since they weren't living organisms. I might've gotten a little carried away and buried the adult instructors in a pile of soil.

Finally, we reviewed water. It was the easiest element next to fire, so easy in fact that I accidentally drenched the entire training room. Apparently I could not only control the amount of an element, but also increase the quantity, which explained how the contents in Peter's water bottle were able to soak us all to the bone.

After I used my powers to gather up the water and fling it out the open window onto an unsuspecting SHEILD agent, we practiced with weapons and hand-to-hand combat. I gazed up at the glorious display of deadly toys on the wall. After much deliberation, I decided on a pair of vibranium shurikens, reasoning that I would be better at operating a weapon from my main ancestral continent: Asia.

Grabbing my weapon of choice from their hooks on the wall, I walked back over to where Nat and Stephen were. Scott and Peter were in a different area of the training room doing their own thing, probably under orders from Nat to give us as much space as possible.

"I know how to use these already," I told my two instructors, holding up the shurikens to accentuate my point.

Nat nodded. "Good, that just saved us ten minutes of teaching you how to use your weapon. Now we can start on the fun stuff." She smirked.

I cracked my knuckles. "What're we waiting for, then?"

My training was more in depth today than it had been the past few weeks. Nat taught me how to fight with both my weapon and my body simultaneously and generally brushed up on my already decently-sculpted fighting skills.

Stephen walked me through how to use my elemental abilities as weapons, and to combine them with my shurikens. In just under five hours I could fling my fire-enhanced shurikens at one target (landing both dead center, mind you) while simultaneously kung-fu-ing the crap out of another, throw one shuriken behind me at a target (again, landing it dead center) while using the air to propel myself at the second target and solidly kicking it in the bullseye and catching my airborne shuriken at the same time, and generally a lot of other cool stuff that will be useful in combat.

We spent the last hour of training on polishing my shapeshifting. Coming in and out of my dragon form was much easier than manipulating any of the elements, even fire, since that was the subject Nat and I had worked on the most.

Today we brought it to a new level: Changing part of my body into my dragon one.

We practiced morphing my wings from my back, my talons from my hands, my fangs from my normal teeth, etc, etc.

I leaned against a dummy, sweat trickling down my forehead and neck. I willed my dragon wings to melt back into my body.

"Good, good," Nat said, her arms crossed. "I think you're starting to get the hang of it." Suddenly she produced a throwing knife, chucking it at me with a "Think fast!"

Instinctively I put my arms up to protect my face, but instead of feeling the knife slash through my flesh, it simply bounced off my forearms like a tennis ball. I looked down. Electric blue scales were reverting back to my normal skin, and somehow part of my dragon self came through without me telling it to.

Nat grinned. "Final test. See if dragon scales are in fact hard as diamonds. Check."

I gazed down at my hands, awestruck. "Awesome."

"Holy—!" Scott said, a hand at his head.

"You're practically invincible!" Peter exclaimed, a wild smile on his face.

"Now you actually might have a surviving chance," Stephen told me with a teasing smirk. I knew he was joking, but a cold feeling still settled in the pit of my stomach.

Once 3 pm hit, I had decently mastered the extent of my powers. It was the best feeling right next to getting a video game you've been waiting for.

"Nice work today, kiddo," Scott told me with a smile, ruffling my hair.

I instinctively smoothed my dark locks down again. "Thanks, Scott. I was more fun than I'd thought."

The adults chuckled at this.

"Hey, Autumn," Nat said, a proud smile on her face, "we have something for you."

I tilted my head but grinned nonetheless. I loved surprises. Except when I randomly got shot with an illegal reptilian mutant serum. I hated that.

The five of us piled into the elevator and headed back up to the main floor of the Compound.

As we exited, I saw the rest of the Avengers sitting on the couches around the coffee table, a box wrapped in silver gift paper on top of it.

Nat gestured for me to open it, and I walked towards the box a bit apprehensively, unsure of what was going on (it wasn't my birthday, I'll tell you that).

Natasha, Stephen, Peter, and Scott all took seats on the couches as well, staring at me expectantly.

Slowly, I removed the top of the box, to see a small handwritten note taped to whatever was inside. It said:

 _Welcome to the Avengers, Dragonet!_

 _Love, the Avengers_

I looked up at the assembled heroes, quirking an eyebrow. "Dragonet, huh? Not bad. Though I would've preferred ' _Lóng_ '."

They just stared at me blankly.

I laughed. "It's Chinese for dragon. Though now that I think about it, nobody here in America will probably know that except for a few."

Setting the note down, pulled out what it had been taped to.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, sounding like a kid who had just got something super cool for Christmas.

To put it simply, it was a superhero suit. _My_ superhero suit.

"No way, guys! Wow, this is so cool!" I held the outfit up to myself, examining it from all different angles. I looked up at the Avengers and smiled, the first genuine, grateful smile since I arrived at the Compound. " _Xièxiè!_ "

Again, more blank stares, but this time they were accompanied by politely clueless smiles.

I laughed again, more shrilly. "It's thank you in Chinese."

"No problem, kid," Bucky said with a smile that mirrored my own.

"We couldn't just let you fight in a T-shirt and yoga pants," said Clint with a smirk.  
"I appreciate your thoughtfulness," I said sarcastically but with a teasing air.

By now I bet you're dying to know what the suit looked like.

It was a two-piece, the top being sleeveless and dark green and the pants being black leather. A silver flame designed was etched into the fabric on the shirt. A pair of black leather fingerless gloves textured and sewn to look like reptile scales were close-pinned to the right shoulder of the top. The neckline was high and styled like an ancient Chinese robe fold, one side crisscrossing over the other, the hems the same silver as the flame pattern. Close-pinned to the left shoulder of the shirt was a black ninja mask.

I peeked over the outfit to see that laying at the bottom of the box was a pair of black combat boots.

I raised my eyes from the box to look at the Avengers, who were staring at me with anticipating, hopeful expressions.

"This is awesome, guys! Thank you!"

Everyone smiled broadly, some in relief, as if glad I liked the suit. Who wouldn't?

"It is laced with vibranium as well," said T'Challa. "I had my sister specially manufacture it in Wakanda. With this being your first mission, we wanted to take extra precautions."

Normally, hearing an adult say something like that would annoy me. I'm sixteen, not a baby! But I nodded with grave understanding, knowing that the 'precautions' would probably be vital to my survival rate. It was my first fight, after all. You can never be too careful with stuff like that.

Suddenly the magnitude of the situation hit me like a truck. I might not survive. We were going up against a high-tech evil organization, one that had their own dragon-shifter as well, a dragon-shifter that was older and much more experienced than me. If we wanted to win this battle, we had to have a perfect strategy, or the whole operation would fall apart and we would lose. General Xang meant business, and he was out for blood.

But, as I looked over my new suit and the faces of people who had taken me in, were kind to me, and trained me to use my powers despite my previously sour and rebellious attitude, I knew that we had a chance. War might be coming, and the battle and after-effects may not be pretty, and we might be beat to the ground over and over again, but that wouldn't stop us. We will fight until The Dragon's Eye is destroyed, no matter what happens to us. We will do whatever it takes.

And I'm ready.


	11. Chapter 11: We Discuss My Oncoming Doom

_...  
_

 _No time for rest_

 _No pillow for my head_

 _Nowhere to run from this_

 _No way to forget_

 _..._

After today, I was determined to avoid conferences for the rest of my life.

I didn't have the luxury of sleeping in this morning. FRIDAY woke me up at eight o'clock sharp, announcing in rapid fire that Steve had called a meeting between the Avengers (which—oh, joy—included me now, too), while I was still half conscious and my only rational thought was _I. Need. SLEEP._

Muttering a groggy "Ok" to FRIDAY just to make the AI shut up, I slid out of bed and massaged my scalp, making my bed head even worse. Not that I cared.

I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of not going to this meeting. It most likely had something to do with our upcoming attack on The Dragon's Eye base, which would also hopefully include a strategy where I wouldn't die, because over the past week the adults had been not-so-subtly hinting that it was probable. And I really didn't want to get killed before I started junior year. That would be a bummer.

Wow, the way I'm describing this makes it sound like I'm completely calm and perfectly ok with dying. Spoiler alert: I wasn't. My heart had adopted a new beating speed, one that was so fast I was surprised Wanda hadn't poked her head in my room and asked me to keep the noise down. I felt nauseous whenever I thought about fighting in an actual fight, one that involved guns, knives, and psychotic Korean generals. My hands got clammy whenever I thought about using my powers against someone with the same abilities but with more experience.

Speaking of clammy, I wiped my sweaty palms on my PJ bottoms, not realizing until now that I had been meditating on these unpleasant thoughts. I shook myself. The last thing I needed to do right now is get worked up.

I went over to my nightstand and checked my phone. I hadn't been on it in the past few days, what with upper-level training, a looming high-percentage death battle and whatnot.

There was a missed call each from my two older siblings, six missed calls and twenty-seven texts from my parents, and two "Scam Likely"s. Of course I could've cared less about the last one, but the missed calls and messages from my family made my heart ache. I glanced at the clock at the top of my phone screen: 7:42. I had time.

I speed-dialed my parents' number, my face falling and a single tear pooling in my eye when the call went straight to voicemail. I stood there staring at my phone screen for what I thought was only a few seconds but was evidently ten minutes because FRIDAY alerted me through the ceiling speakers that the meeting was to start soon, nearly making me drop my phone.

"Like I care," I muttered, a newfound bitterness boiling in my chest due to my parents not taking my call. I immediately tried to push that emotion away. It wasn't their fault they didn't answer. They were busy with their jobs, my mom the drama director at my school and my dad an antique weapons collector/salesman (I know, my dad has the coolest job in the world, right?)

I plugged my phone back in and set it gently on my nightstand and walked over to my closet. I didn't know if the meeting was casual, formal, or if we were supposed to wear our battle armor, or why I even suddenly wanted to know. I quickly threw on a sleeveless white shirt, black denim capri overalls, and brown lace-up ankle boots and headed to the main floor of the Compound.

From the glass walls of the conference room, I could already see everyone assembled (geez, another bad pun. I'm on a roll, aren't I?)

To my surprise, I even saw Strange and T'Challa. This must be an important meeting.

"Ah, Autumn, you made it," Steve said with a smile as I slipped into the room.

"Well it's not like I had a choice." I smiled back and slid into a chair next to Sam.

Steve's expression wavered ever so slightly at my comment.

"Ok." Tony moved and stood at the front of the table. "I assume everyone knows why we're here."

I, in truth, did not, but I didn't want to risk the possibility of a 30 minute lecture about the meaning of the conference. So I just nodded along with everybody else.

Tony tapped something near the end of the table, and a blue holographic map of North Korea appeared. My eyes widened. No, we can't be. . . Not yet. . . It's too soon, surely. . .

I catch everyone staring at me, awaiting my reaction. I took a deep breath, hoping I didn't look as terrified as I felt. "So we're finally getting back at those dirtbags, huh?" I said coolly.

Tony actually grinned. I heard Sam chuckle next to me.

"Yes, to put it simply, we're getting back at those dirtbags," Tony confirmed. "And we're doing it tomorrow. Thank you, you all've been a great audience." Tony did a small mock-bow and sat down, leaving me rigid with shock. Ok, so I was right. We were attacking The Dragon's Eye base, and we were doing it soon. I just didn't realize that by 'soon' the Avengers meant 'tomorrow'.

Steve rolled his eyes at Tony and stood, taking Iron Man's place. He zoomed in on the holo-map near the tip of the country, bringing the city into focus. Some distance away, in an unpopulated area was what I assumed to be our target's base. It was hard to tell on the projection, but the evil HQ was a collection of plain rectangular buildings on a field of concrete. Tiny black squares dotted the landscape, which I presumed were military vehicles. All in all, it looked pretty drab and unimpressive. But I've learned that looks can be deceiving, especially when the deceiver in question is seemly innocent and insignificant.

"This is where we're going," Steve said, his voice echoing throughout the conference room authoritatively. "The headquarters of The Dragon's Eye. Our satellite scans confirmed that the other host of the Dragon's Blood serum, Viggo Ramirez, is strong and fully trained in his powers." He briefly glanced at me. "General Xang is preparing a direct attack on the Compound, and we can be sure that the rest of New York won't be far behind. Our plan is to sneak into the base and get the information about Xang's attack. One team will infiltrate while the others keep The Dragon's Eye soldiers busy."

Steve looked at me again, and I got the feeling that I wasn't one of the infiltrators.

"Along with the plans, we need to get the file on the Dragon's Blood serum. If we take it, Xang won't be able to copy it and create more enhanced super soldiers to use to his advantage. This is the most critical part of the mission. If anything goes wrong, the rest of the world might be at stake."

Natasha suddenly spoke up. "Don't forget that this mission also doubles as an assassination."

I whipped my head around to stare at her, trying not to let the fear show in my eyes.

Nat shot me glance out of the corner of her eye, smirking slightly. "Yes. That's your job, Autumn."

I resisted the urge to scream and incinerate the conference room. The Russian agent stood and moved to the front of the table as Steve sat down, pulling up a holographic image of a man with finger-combed black hair, a square jaw, and gleaming dark eyes, who must've been Viggo Ramirez.

My breath caught in my throat. It was only now I realized how young the Sokovian was, in his mid-twenties at most. That just made the situation worse. Not only was I having to fight someone with my same powers, but also someone near my own age.

"Like Steve mentioned earlier, Viggo is incredibly skilled in his abilities. We don't stand a chance of getting inside the base without keeping him occupied." Nat shot me a look close to sympathy. "Unfortunately, Autumn, you're the only one strong enough to fend him. The match between you two should be even, minus the obvious height difference. With you keeping Viggo busy, we should be able to get inside, snag the information we need, and make it out, preferably alive." With that, Nat went silent, gazing around the room, leaving the rest of us to bask in her slightly disturbing plan.

"And about the assassination," Nat added almost casually, "Autumn, while you're fighting Viggo, try to kill him without dying first. With him out of the way, we will definitely stand a better chance of completely this mission."

My whole body went numb. My mouth went dry. Now, I wasn't one to get scared easily, but my personal assignment sent a shock of terror through my nerves. A few minutes ago, I was nervous just having to fight in a real battle, against real bad guys. Now I was appointed to assassinate my inevitable nemesis. What were they going to have me do next, take down the rest of HYDRA all by myself?

"We can't forget about Xang," Scott said, everyone turning to stare at him. He gave us an 'how did you even forget about this guy?' look. "He started all this, didn't he? He's the evil mastermind behind The Dragon's Eye. We might stand a better chance at getting the files with our heads still intact if he's taken care of."

The adults nodded thoughtfully. Peter looked a bit nauseous.

"If Xang's dead, he won't be able to mind-control Viggo," I spoke up quietly, realization dawning on the others' faces.

"Exactly," Scott said, leaning back in his chair as if he had just won an incredibly difficult chess match.

"But Xang's bound to be surrounded by bodyguards, or some sort of security system," Col. Rhodes pointed out.

"Then we wipe out the guards," Bucky said. "We've delt with situations like this before. You get rid of their security, and they become vulnerable."

"Except this time we're dealing with a super high-tech terrorist organization that can turn into fire-breathing dragons," Stephen argued. "Xang's a former Korean army general, he's not stupid. Even if we manage to isolate him from his bodyguards, he'll be able to hold his own in a fight. Our best bet is getting someone in on the inside."

"To do what?" Clint demanded. "Poison his tea? Shoot him in the back of the head via an air vent or something?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm and scorn.

"No," I said softly. "We lure him out of his fortress, into the open. We try to put as much distance between him and his troops as possible. Limit or hopefully restrict his immediate resources. Like Stephen said, we isolate him from his agents. Then it'll just be all of us (assuming I survive my fight with Viggo) against him."

Nat smirked at me. "When did you become an expert in advanced battle strategy?"

I shrugged. "Thirty seconds ago."

Tony grinned with what I thought might've been pride.

"Autumn's right," Steve agreed.

I gave him a pleasantly surprised 'excuse me?' look.

"If we're able to somehow corral Xang away from his base, we might actually succeed."

"But even if we don't manage to kill him," T'Challa said, "Autumn would have hopefully eliminated Viggo from the picture by then. If we get the files and get out unscathed without running into Xang, we can postpone his death for another time."

The way he made it sound so casual caused a shiver to xylophone down my spine.

Steve looked very apprehensive about this.

"Steve," Bucky chided, "this is most likely our best option." He glanced at me, silently adding a continuation to his sentence: _To keep Autumn alive._

Steve sighed and glanced at Tony, who merely shrugged.

"Ok then," Captain America said, standing up and resorting to his former position. "We'll rendezvous in the hanger at ten AM sharp tomorrow morning, and head to North Korea to The Dragon's Eye base. Remember, our main priority is getting the files on The Dragon's Eye's next attack, and the formula for the Dragon's Blood serum. We kill Xang in the process, great, added bonus. But we can't infiltrate their fortress without their weaponized guard dog being distracted." He gave me an almost fatherly look. "You sure you're ready for this, Autumn?"

I nodded mutely, waiting for a witty comment to come tumbling out of my mouth, but it never did. Geez, this serious atmosphere most be really taking a toll on me.

Steve nodded as well in grim acceptance. "Autumn, Peter, you two are dismissed."

I left the conference room with the silence of a ghost, my eyes glazed over and thoughts elsewhere as I shivered from the cold, looming, ominous knowledge of what tomorrow will bring.

...

"I heard rumors that you wanted to see me," Nicholas Fury said, easing himself into one of the high-backed leather conference chairs. He crossed one leg over the other and steepled his fingers on his knee, his "I'm prepared for a long talk" posture.

"Fury, we can't send Autumn out, not now," Tony pleaded. "She's only been here what, two months? She's not ready for this, she's just a kid!"

"As I recall, Stark, that didn't bother you when you recruited Peter Parker for your team when you and Cap had your little 'civil war'." Fury put the last two words in air quotes. "When the boy was only what, thirteen?"

"Fifteen," Tony muttered.

Fury shrugged passively. "Listen, SHEILD has been monitoring Miss Tahhvang's progress, and we all agree that she is ready—"

"That's not your call," Steve snapped.

"—and can hold her own," Fury continued, ignoring Steve. "You may not realize it, but the girl is much more capable than she lets on."

"That _girl_ has a name," Bucky snarled.

Fury shrugged again, but it was pretty clear how ticked off he was becoming.

"And what do you mean by _capable_?" Stephen demanded.

Fury sighed and leaned forward, proceeding to steeple his fingers on the polished surface of the glass table. "Do you know why Autumn Tahhvang was chosen for the Dragon's Blood mutant serum in the first place?"

The Avengers exchanged uneasy glances. In all the excitement of planning for their attack on The Dragon's Eye, they admitted the thought had never crossed their minds.

The director of SHEILD gazed slowly around the room. "From what our research tells us, the serum was programmed to target an individual with strong DNA, stronger than any other human being's. (Notice I said 'human beings' which explains why Thor, Valkyrie, or even Loki weren't chosen instead.)  
"From what we deduced, Autumn has other-worldly blood in her veins. Half of her genetic code isn't human."

"And what exactly does that mean?" Bruce asked.

Fury was silent for a second for dramatic effect. "The truth is, doctor, we don't know." He fixed the Avengers with a hard stare. "And I'm not sure you want to."

...

I checked my phone after getting back from the conference (which was probably the most disturbing thing I ever had to endure), excitedly finding two missed calls from my parents. So they're still alive! Hallelujah!

I tapped the FaceTime icon in my mom's contact, hoping that she was home with my father.

By God's grace, she was.

"Autumn!" Mom squealed, nearly dropping her phone and immediately breaking down into hysterical sobs.

"Honey, what— Yīnghuā!" Dad's eyes became watery, his face alighting with pure joy.

"Mom! Bà!" I smiled at my parents, tears of joy pooling in my eyes. It had been nearly three months since I had seen them, and their faces and voices brought a sense of peace to me. A feeling like everything would be ok after all.

"How are you doing? Do you like it there? Do they know what happened to you?" Mom looked just as I remembered her. Big, seafoam green eyes, silky, shoulder-length brown hair, pale caramel skin, and freckles.

Dad had acquired a few more gray streaks to his jet-black hair. It was finger-combed to the side as usual, his intelligent dark eyes sparkling, olive skin nearly matching my mother's. It looked like he hadn't shaved in a while, his goatee nearly overgrown into a full beard.

I drank in every detail about them, in case this was the last time I'd see them on this earth.

I told them everything about living at the Avengers Compound, starting from the beginning. Collapsing unconscious at the soccer field due to the serum taking hold, waking up here, what powers I possessed, being in my dragon form for the first time, my first flight, all of it. By the time I finished, both my parents looked like they had been run over by a truck.

"But. . . you're ok, right? No one has hurt you?" my mother asked, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. "No, Mom, I'm fine. The Avengers are very kind to me. They've taught me how to use and control my powers so I don't spontaneously combust at any moment." The last part was a joke, but Mom looked legitimately horrified. My dad, on the other hand, being the lighthearted and humorous person he was, understood and chuckled. "Well, that's good. A spontaneous combustion would've ruined our day."

I laughed along with my father, Mom looking between us like we were mentally unstable. She did that a lot when Dad and I shared a joke she didn't understand.

"How's everything going back home?" I asked.

"Oh, well, the usual," Mom replied. "We're rehearsing for the summer play next month, so that's been a little hectic. Everyone's been asking where you are, Autumn, so I told them you're at a summer camp. I can't tell people you've been kidnapped by the Avengers—"

" _Rescued_ ," I corrected her albeit roughly.

"Ok, fine," Mom conceded. " _Rescued_ by the Avengers. I couldn't tell anyone that, otherwise it would arouse suspicion and put you in even more danger."

I nodded, knowing that what she was saying was true. Government inspection was the last thing we needed right now.

"Are Aaron and Amaya home with you?" I asked hopefully, aching to see my siblings again.

Mom and Dad both looked a bit pained at my question. Oh no. I hope nothing had happened to them.

"They're at work right now," Mom answered quickly upon seeing my crestfallen face. "But I'll have them call you as soon as they're free."

Another tear threatened to spill. At this point, I didn't even know if I'd been alive during their next break, much less available.

"Ok, thanks," I managed to choke out. My parents nodded silently.

"So, Yīnghuā," Dad began. I smiled at the use of his special nickname for me. He smiled back. "Have they trained you to fight with your superpowers yet?"

Being an ancient weapons salesman and a former martial arts teacher, my dad was always interested in stuff like this.

"Yeah, they have," I answered. "We trained like that yesterday, actually." Then I proceeded to tell him the moves Nat taught me, the techniques Steven showed me in order to pair those moves with my powers, how I learned to morph into individual parts of my dragon self during a battle, etc.

When I finished my little recount, Dad looked immensely proud. A warm feeling blossomed in my chest at the sight of my father's pleased smile.

"I'm so proud of you, Autumn." (See?)

"Thanks," I replied. "It was tough work, but I pushed through and I'm glad I did. Those moves might come in handy in the near future." Seeing my parents' shocked and slightly skeptical expressions, I hastily added, "With me being an Avenger now, that is." I had decided not to tell them about my upcoming possibly-fatal trip to North Korea. That didn't need more worry and stress on their shoulders.

I heard Mom's phone ring, and almost started sobbing. The call was probably about the play, and if it was (which was 99% going to be the case), it was very important.

Mom looked equally upset. "I'm sorry, Autumn. . . but. . . that's the assistant director. I have to take this, ok, sweetie?"

I nodded and mustered a smile. "It's ok, Mom. I'm glad I got to see you guys again."

"Oh, Autumn," Mom said, and looked as though she was about to hug the phone had Dad not put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We're so glad we got to see you again, too, Autumn. We missed our little girl."

I laughed lightly. "I miss you too. I love you guys. . . _so much_. Tell Aaron and Amaya the same thing, please."

"We will," Dad promised, smiling warmly.

I was about to hit the End button on my phone, but Dad spoke up again. "About your training, Autumn. . . if you ever feel like giving up, remember the Chinese proverb: 'The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed'. I just felt led to tell you that real quick."

I looked up at my ceiling and mouthed a 'thank you' to God, before turning back to my screen. "Thanks, Dad. I'll—I'll keep that in mind."

"Good," Dad said with a grin.

"We love you Autumn!" Mom shouted, waving enthusiastically and blowing kisses.

"Yes, we love you!" Dad joined her before the line went dead. I stared at my tear-stained reflection in the screen, wishing that my only superpower right now was the ability to travel through my phone's camera back home to my family.

Through the sadness-induced numbness of my head, Dad's words came to the surface like a lighthouse beacon, clearing away the fog. _The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed._

My father had told me this many times, whether it was with kung fu, flips, or just schoolwork. The saying had always mildly annoyed me, but at the same time, helped me, even when I didn't realize it. Now, I treasured it, knowing that if the Spirit had put it on Dad's heart to share it with me, there was an important reason behind it. . . maybe even the key to my survival tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12: Hot Chocolate at Midnight

**A/N: Belated response to Guest Aura (SO SORRY FOR THE LATENESS!): Aw, thank you so much! This fic is definitely by far my favorite and most treasured, so it's really refreshing and encouraging to get such positive feedback! If you enjoy writing and are confident in your abilities, I totally encourage you to make a FanFiction account! If you end up doing so, drop me a review and I'll stop by and check out your stories. ;)**

 _...  
_

 _I see your monsters_

 _I see your pain_

 _Tell me your problems, I'll chase them away_

 _..._

 _Tick, tick, tick._

The rhythmic sound of my wall clock was usually enough to lull me to sleep, but not tonight.

I spent hours tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable and attempting to get a decent amount of shut-eye before the battle tomorrow, but the latter was the reason I could not.

I sighed in frustration and admitted my defeat. According to the clock it was exactly midnight. I knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight, so I sat up and kicked my covers off, rubbing my eyes and putting on a pair of white Vans slip-ons, quietly exiting my bedroom. The halls were darker than I expected, what with the entire right side made of glass, letting in the natural moonlight (which was apparently not present at the moment.)

I took the long route to the main living space, making my way over to the kitchen to grab a midnight snack or something of that sort.

However, I was quite surprised to find one other human being already rummaging through the fridge.

"Peter?" I said slowly.

Peter shrieked and jumped, hitting his head on the inside of the fridge, creating a loud _BANG_.

I covered my mouth to hide my laughter, frantically looking from left to right to make sure the sound hadn't awoken anyone.

"Ow. . ." Peter moaned, rubbing his head and turning around. He froze like a deer in headlights when he saw me, his eyes widening.

"H-hey, Autumn," he began, his voice cracking. "Uh. . . what're you doing here?"

"Same as you," I replied sleepily, rubbing my eyes and going over to the pantry, pulling out a packet of cocoa powder and filling up a small pot with water to boil.

Peter slowly moved out of the way and sat down at the bar, staring at me and munching on whatever he had snagged from the fridge (which was a stick of beef jerky, I later discovered.)

I turned on the stove, setting the pot on the burner and taking down a mug for myself.  
There was silence for a while as I prepared my drink. It was very uncharacteristic of Peter to be this quiet for so long. It was a bit unnerving to be honest.

I poured the cocoa powder into my mug and added the steaming water, stirring the mixture into a nice warm drink.

"Coffee?" asked Peter with a smirk, gesturing to my mug with his head.

I smirked back and blew gently over the top of the cup. "Nah, I hate coffee, this is hot chocolate."

"What're you doing up?" Peter inquired.

I shrugged, the bottom half of my face obscured by the mug. "Couldn't sleep."

"Pre-battle jitters?"

"Mm, more like a paranoid knowledge of my imminent doom," I responded.

Peter nodded slightly, giving me a look full of regret and sympathy.  
I have to admit, I appreciated it a little. It was a nice change of pace after the other Avengers treated my probable death like an unfortunate possibility.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate. "Peter, how did you become an Avenger?"

Peter looked surprised by my question. He blinked. "Mr. Stark saw me in the fan videos on YouTube and recruited me for his team when he had his disagreement with Captain America. Then I fought small-time crooks for a few months before stopping a black market criminal who was using and stealing alien tech left over from the New York invasion seven years ago. Then I followed Mr. Stark into space and helped him save Mr. Strange from one of Thanos' minions. After that, I officially became an Avenger."

"So basically, you had experience before they recruited you," I summed up with a frown.

Peter frowned back, except his was confused whereas mine was slightly angry. "Yeah. Why?"

I growled under my breath. "You at least had a knowledge of what you were doing when you had your first big fight. But me, I've never done anything like this before! I don't know how to fight bad guys, or infiltrate evil bases, or rescue hostages from mercenaries! I'm just a kid with strange abilities and no previous experience whatsoever. I can't go from basic superpower training to an actual battle!" I sighed and set my mug on the countertop next to me, tears threatening to fall. "Like everyone keeps saying, I might die. As much as I don't want to believe it, a part of me. . . thinks they're right." I put my head in my hands and began softly sobbing. I immediately started mentally scolding myself. I couldn't cry! I had to stay strong and keep my guard up! I can't let this get to me, especially not here, with someone watching! I can't. . . I can't look weak. Not with such a serious battle at hand.

I sniffled and roughly wiped my eyes with the back of my hands, frequently hiccuping and choking up. Guilt and shame instantly took over my body. I felt so humiliated. I could feel my cheeks heat up and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Sorry," I mumbled, flicking a stray of long hair out of my face. "I didn't mean to start crying. But you can only take so much pressure, you know? I mean, once you learn you could die the next day, you're bound to reach the breaking point eventually. There's only so much a teenager can take—" My rant was cut off as a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist, enveloping me in a warm hug. I stiffened a bit. I didn't expect Peter to do such a thing. I suddenly felt bad and almost released a fresh set of tears. I didn't deserve his kindness, not after the way I treated him in the past.

I slowly relaxed into the embrace, leaning my head against the brunette's sturdy chest and exhaling slowly. Peter rested his head on top of mine, rubbing my back comfortingly while still keeping one arm securely around my waist.

"Try not to think about it," Peter murmured like a father to his frightened child. "You'll be ok. You're an awesome fighter, you'll do great! You're very skilled and powerful; you'll make it out alive. Trust me."

I sniffed, feeling a few more tears fall down my face, moistening Peter's shirt.  
"I want to believe that," I said softly, my voice hoarse from crying. "But the odds are just too high—"

Peter drew back so he could look at me straight in the eyes, his hands now on my shoulders.

"Stop telling yourself that," he told me firmly. "It's not true. If your life was truly on the line, the Avengers wouldn't let you go. They know you're strong and capable Autumn, if if you don't know it yourself. You are going to be fine."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and slowly nodded. "Thank you," I whispered.

Peter nodded back solemnly. "I know you're scared, but we all are. It's normal. It's not something to be ashamed of. But if you let the fear get to you, then you won't do well. Just forget about everything else and follow your instincts and what Natasha, Scott, and Mr. Strange taught you. That's all you can do for now."

I was a bit shocked at the sensible wisdom Peter was spouting right now, but I knew he was right. I took another deep breath and felt myself relax. My eyelids fluttered. Now that my stress about the next day had significantly mellowed, I realized just how tired I was.

"Thanks, Peter. I didn't know you dabbled in anxiety therapy," I joked, a yawn escaping my mouth as I finished the last sentence.

Peter scoffed and chuckled lightly. "Dr. Banner might've rubbed off on me."

I gave him a funny look. "Dr. Banner's not even a therapist!"

Peter laughed. "I know, I know." He gave me a half calculating, half teasing look. "You should really go to bed. Your odds of death tomorrow will definitely become a reality if you fall asleep on the battlefield."

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, way to boost my self esteem. I'll _definitely_ sleep well now with that in mind," I replied sarcastically with a small smile.

We shared a short laugh, which felt good, considering what we were about to face tomorrow.

I began to make my way back to my room, before looking over my shoulder at Peter who was leaving the kitchen to go back to bed as well.

"Thanks again, Peter. I really needed that."

He smiled and nodded in understanding, both of us departing from the area, the kitchen left quiet and dark as if nothing ever happened.


	13. Chapter 13: It Begins

_..._

 _Two-thousand surrounding us_

 _Travel two-thousand kilometers_

 _To hang out with us_

 _What's up, danger?_

 _..._

For once I was anxious to wake up.

I had gotten a decent amount of sleep after talking with Peter last night, but the looming knowledge of today and infected my dreams, flooding my sleep with incoherent nightmares. When FRIDAY blared the wake-up alarm, I jumped out of bed full of adrenaline, landing on the floor so quickly I nearly slipped (on CARPET) and burst through the door, running to the kitchen to get breakfast so I could get some last minute training in and take one last look at my bedroom and family pictures in case I didn't survive the next six hours.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel much like eating. I settled on a light breakfast of half a piece of cinnamon raisin toast, a clementine, and a glass of water. The water must've picked up on my jumpy nerves, because the glass started trembling and little droplets leapt out, landing on the counter with tiny plops.

I hadn't seen the rest of the Avengers yet, but I didn't know exactly if that was a plus or a minus.

After breakfast I trained for about forty-five minutes in the gym, scoring perfect bullseyes with my shurikens nearly every throw, managing to not flood the room this time.

The morning flew by quickly in a blur. I had a hard time focusing, my possible demise hanging heavy and dark in my mind like a dormant rain cloud. What seemed like only five minutes after I woke up, Steve announced over the intercom that it was time for everyone to "suit up".

I made my way back to my room and went over to my closet, opening the white double doors. There was my uniform, hanging at the very front, crisp and clean, almost like it was taunting me. "Shut up," I muttered to my rude uniform, and yanked it off its hanger and put it on. I did my hair in a tight French braid so it wouldn't get in the way and I wouldn't burn it off in case I breathed fire and it got in my face. After tugging on my fingerless gloves and lacing up my boots, I pulled up my half ninja mask and looked in the mirror.

I hardly recognized myself. I looked like an assassin or something, not a superhero, much less a kid (which was probably good now that I think about it). But then again, Nat's literally an ex-assassin who wears a weaponized black leather jumpsuit and she's an exceptional hero, so I'm sure I have nothing to worry about as far as being misunderstood for a villain goes.

With a deep breath and one last look at my reflection, I left my room and navigated my way to the hanger and the upcoming bloodbath.

All the Avengers were already waiting by the jet, last-minute supplies being loaded in by navy blue-clad workers.

"Sleep well?" Bucky asked with a smile. I didn't know if he was teasing or not, so I decided to answer honestly, pulling down my ninja mask so I could speak better.

"Yeah, for the most part." I left it at that and tried for a smile in return. Bucky, however, saw through my disguise and put a kind hand on my shoulder, his face a mix of concern and assurance. "You're gonna do fine, kiddo. Just follow your instincts and remember your training. It'll be over before you know it."

I nodded and inhaled sharply, trying not to think about how similar Bucky's advice was to Peter's.

"All aboard!" Tony hollered from the top of the jet ramp, snapping me out of my thoughts. He, curiously, was the only one not in his superhero suit.

We loaded into the plane, Tony going over to the cockpit and typing in some stuff (coordinates? A pizza order? It was hard to tell) on the high-tech dashboard. He walked away and a moment later, the jet's ramp shut and began to rumble down the runway, lifting smoothly into the sky. Oh, so he turned on autopilot.

"Ok, we should be in North Korean in approximately four hours," Tony announced. "Assuming, of course, we don't have any detours."

"Wait, two hours? North Korea's halfway across the world! That's technically impossible," I said.

Tony smirked. "Darling, you're looking at the world's greatest tech engineer. I specialized the engines of the jet so they travel ten times the speed of your average horsepower plane, getting us to our destination twice as fast."

I simply stared at him. It'd be helpful though, I realized. The sooner we get to the battlefield, the better. It'd be over a whole lot quicker that way.

The rest of the ride was generally uneventful. The adults went into a separate room on the jet to discuss intense battle strategy, leaving just me, Peter, and the autopilot (who was FRIDAY, evidently) in the main area. Until this day, I never knew AI's were so good at I Spy, or that there were enough things to "spy" in a jet to make up an actual game. Ah, the things you learn when you're flying to your imminent doom.

When we were only twenty minutes away from our destination, Steve decided to fill Peter and I on the revised battle plan.

"Autumn, you'll jump from the jet just before we land and fly down to The Dragon's Eye base, hopefully distracting some of the army or at least Viggo so we can land unseen. Tony and Thor will join you shortly after, but we need you to draw the enemy's attention by yourself for a few minutes. Think you can do that?"

I nodded solemnly. This was it. The battle we'd been preparing for for the last three months. It was finally happening.

Steve then went into the strategy involving the rest of the Avengers, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy trying to calm my hyperventilating nerves, taking deep, shaky breaths and switching from sitting down or pacing.

Twenty minutes flew by in a blink. Before I knew it, FRIDAY announced our arrival and the jet ramp opened just enough for a petite sixteen year old to slip through without getting stuck. I was that petite sixteen year old, in case you didn't know yet.

"See ya down there, kid," Tony said with a teasing grin mixed with a little bit of sadness.

"It has been a pleasure knowing you, Autumn," Thor told me gravely with a kind smile.

I stared at him wide-eyed, my face paling. Did he honestly think I'd die that quickly, if at all? My self-esteem plummeted a few inches. Yep, just the kind of encouragement I needed right now.

Nat elbowed the Norse god roughly in the arm, jolting him to his senses.

"I meant in general. Of course you're going to survive," Thor amended quickly.

"Nice save," Clint muttered half-mockingly.

Everyone else came up to me, hugging me (Nat, Wanda, and Peter), shaking my hand (the male Avengers, save for Tony, Bucky, and Scott), and ruffling my hair (Tony, Bucky, and Scott). Then came the encouragements, varying from "You'll do great, don't sweat it!" to "Again, just follow your instincts and remember your training. We'll catch up with you soon."

I nodded in acknowledgment to all of them, taking in the faces belonging to the kind and gracious people who had taken me in for what might be the last time.

"Thank you all," I said softly, the most genuine thank you I probably have ever said.

The Avengers smiled warmly in return, and I turned around to face the open door, taking a deep breath.

 _This is it. God, please protect me. At least keep me alive long enough to see my entire family one last time. Amen._

I willed my dragon wings to extend from my back, jumping through the hole into the open sky, spreading my wings and gliding down to what hopefully will not be my final hours.

The wind tore at my face, but I was used to that. I spiraled downward through the clouds, my stomach doing acrobatic flips. My eyes watered due to the speed I was going, my fingers quickly growing numb and tingly. Finally, though, I landed. But I wasn't relieved. I wasn't safe—not by a long shot.

I had just enough time to take in my surroundings—sun-bleached concrete stretching for many miles in all directions, plain dark gray buildings to the north several hundred meters in front of me with black military vehicles parked near them—before an unnaturally strong and precise gust of wind slammed into me from the left, flinging me several yards to the right. I landed on my stomach on the hard ground with a small, sickening crack. I groaned and rolled over on my side, guessing that one of my ribs was fractured. I spit onto the cement and propped myself up on my elbows, casting a narrow-eyed look in the direction of my attacker.

The figure stalked towards me like a panther, revealing themselves to be a young, dark-haired man dressed in black military armor.

My eyes widened and I scrambled up, setting my feet apart and bracing myself for another assault, staring at the man with a hard, defiant expression.

"Xang told me I would have to face a challenger today," Viggo Ramirez yelled at me in a heavy Sokovian accent, a scornful smirk adorning his face. He stared at me for a moment before rearing his head back and laughing. " _This_ is my challenger? An inexperienced _child_?" He glared at me. "You're just an obstacle in my way; an inconvenience I have to get rid of. I'll crush you like the pesky, worthless little bug you are."

I squared my shoulders and glared right back at him. "Try me," I stated bravely (to my credit, I should add). I stomped my right foot, using my elemental powers to manipulate the soil under the concrete, a low, rumbling sound echoing inside the ground. Viggo's eyes widened in realization as a long, jagged crack snaked its way under his feet, the ground underneath him exploding not a moment later, launching him six feet into the air.

However, he did a flip midair and landed gracefully on his feet, though he looked a bit unsteady. I smirked smugly to myself.

"Alright, little bug," Viggo hissed, "let's see what you can really do."

"My pleasure," I snarled back, and sprinted towards him. He ran at me in turn, and right before we collided, Viggo extended his left hand, black scales covering his arm, his hand morphing into his dragon talon. He swiped at my head, but I ducked sharply to the side, loosing my balance and tumbling across the ground. I picked myself up quickly and let out a roar, Viggo doing the same, our dragon side leaking through, making our war cries fill the air with a deep, inhuman sound.

Black, leathery wings sprouted from Viggo's back, and he launched himself into the air. A funnel of air swirled around him like a tornado, distorting his figure like a funhouse mirror. Then he outstretched his arm. The air formed a semi-solid shape, like a tentacle, and Viggo thrust his hand forward, the wind tentacle lunging at me. I dodged the attack at the last second, the wind smashing into the concrete. I grit my teeth. He really did believe I was just a worthless obstacle. He was aiming to kill.  
I spread my hands. Wind swirled aggressively around them, mixing with soil and the smash debris.

Viggo was aiming to kill.

Well, so was I.

Viggo roared at me, displaying his fangs and long, forked tongue. His wings fanned out, making him look bigger. He looked like he was about to advance, but he whipped his head to stare at the sky.  
It took my heightened sense a moment longer to hear, but then the unmistakable sound of Iron Man's jets reached my ears.  
"You ok, kid?" Tony's voice asked over the intercom.

I tapped the small, barely noticeable earpiece in my ear and replied, "Yeah, I'm good. I can handle this jerk."

"Alright then," Tony said. "We're going to storm the base. It might be a while before we can help you."

"I'm fine," I insisted, glancing at Viggo who was now distracted by Iron Man and Thor's forms zipping overhead.

"Ok. Don't die," Tony half-heartedly joked.

I chuckled bitterly "Let's see how that goes," I muttered, cutting off Tony's oncoming inquiry with another tap, making the line go dead.

I fully faced Viggo again, planting my feet apart like before, my wings fanning out to mirror my opponent. I clenched my fists and set my jaw. The air and debris continued to revolve around my hands like earthen gauntlets. If I was going to die, I was going to make Viggo remember my face for the rest of his life.

"It's just you and me, Autumn!" he shouted at me. He smiled sadistically. "The Avengers won't come and help you. You're on your own!"

"You're wrong!" I spat back. "I have a Friend who is always with me, and He will help me defeat you!" Yes, it sounded cheesy, but it was true. And that truth warmed my bones, sent adrenaline pumping through my veins, and surged my body with newfound strength.

Viggo and I lunged at each other, setting off a battle like a stick of dynamite, one that will shake the earth beneath our feet.


End file.
